Doppelganger
by Krystiana
Summary: Harry sees his reflection smirking at him and wearing a towel that is a most familiar shade of green... thus beginning a very strange chain of events. Will be slash, HPDM. UPDATED 08-19!
1. Part I: Something Strange

**Doppelganger   
Part I: Something Strange**

By Krystiana   
krissy@zahadum.com 

**Disclaimer**: Don't own. Don't sue. (aka HP and all other characters belong to JKR and whole bunch of other people, blah, blah, blah…) 

**Warnings**: None really apply to this chapter, but this fic will eventually have slash of the H/D variety. May also contain some angst. 

**Archive**: My site (), FanFiction.net, Noire Sensus (if they should somehow get a hold of this), Schnoogle (eventually). Anywhere else, please e-mail me first. ^_^ 

This story is in no way related to my other HP work in progress, "The Dark." This is just an idea that has been in my brain for a LONG time, and I finally came up with a way for it to happen. I may not continue it, depending on the response I get. The idea will be quite happy with either becoming an actual fic or staying in my brain. In other words, let me know what you think. 

This is version two (aka the better version) of this chapter. I'll be working with my beta, Emma Grant, to work out this fic to the greatest potential. A BIG HUGE THANKS TO HER. I'll draw you a picture... or something. ^_^ Thanks to her, I'm now REALLY excited about this fic. Yay! 

On with the fic. 

* * *

From the moment that Harry Potter woke up, he knew it was going to be a very strange day. Nothing in particular happened right when he pulled himself out of bed to get started that morning, but the chills running up and down his spine gave him the feeling that something out of the ordinary was going to happen. 

He attempted to shake the sensation, and decided to hop in the shower to wake up a bit more. Perhaps the feelings he was getting was just sleepiness catching up with him. 

The shower did the trick for clearing his mind, and he laughed internally at his so-called 'premonitions' of the morning. He had just begun drying his hair when he noticed that his reflection in the mirror was looking at him. Harry raised an eyebrow and walked towards the mirror to get a better look. To his surprise, his reflection smirked at him and wrapped his own towel around his body. Harry blinked, and the reflection was suddenly back in sync with him, looking at him incredulously. 

"Bloody wizard mirrors," Harry muttered, scowling at the mirror. "They all have a mind of their own." However, the uneasy feeling he'd had when he woke up had come back in full force. 

The towel in Harry's hands was the bright Gryffindor red, while the towel he'd seen in his smirking reflection's hands was a very familiar shade of green.   


* * *   


"Draco!" 

A groan could be heard from a pile of blankets. 

"You're supposed the morning person, Draco. Wake UP!" 

Draco Malfoy abruptly sat up as Blaise tore the blankets from him, glaring at the dark-haired boy in front of him. His eyes narrowed as Blaise began laughing. "What's so funny?" Draco hissed. 

"What in the world did you do last night? Your hair looks as bad as Potter's!" 

Draco threw the first thing he could grab. The laughing boy slipped through the bedroom door just as a Potions book smacked into the wall right where his head had been. 

A very grumpy Slytherin pulled himself out of bed, muttering to himself. Draco had been up late finishing his essay for McGonagall's Transfiguration class, and had gotten a little under three hours of sleep. His reflection actually gasped when he stepped in front of the mirror. 

"What happened to you?" 

Draco glared at his reflection, studying the dark circles under his eyes, and unhappily agreeing with Blaise's comment on his hair. Thankfully, Draco didn't have the cowlicks that Potter had, and successfully got his hair slicked back to his usual style, making sure there wasn't a strand out of place. He dressed for the day, and was just placing a mild concealment charm on his dark circles as Blaise returned to the door with Pansy. 

"We need some breakfast, Draco," Pansy said, peering around the edge of the doorway unabashedly. "Are you ready yet?" 

"I've been ready," Draco replied shortly, pushing past the two of them and walking out of the room. 

The three Slytherins began making their way to the Great Hall, with Pansy and Blaise chatting about Potions while Draco remained silent. Draco tuned the other two out, going over his Transfiguration essay in his head once more. 

"Draco?" 

He glanced at Pansy. "What?" 

"Would you mind looking over my Potions essay at breakfast?" Pansy smiled sweetly at Draco. 

"Mine, too," Blaise said. 

Draco sighed. "Fine." 

"We'll run back and get them," Pansy said as she and Blaise stopped to turn around. "We'll meet you at the table in a few minutes." Draco made a sound of agreement, and once again began heading down the hall, losing himself in his thoughts. 

He walked by a display case that held Quidditch trophies and a few other various rewards, and was suddenly jerked out of his slight trance. He passed the same display every day and normally took no notice of it. Today, however, something compelled him to stop and look. 

All the normal trophies were in the case. Draco narrowed his eyes, silently berating himself for letting strange suspicions get the better of him. Just as he was about to turn away, the inscription on one of the trophies caught his eye. He leaned forward to inspect it more carefully.   


_Slytherin Quidditch Team   
Co-Captains Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter_   


A chill ran down his spine, and Draco couldn't help but give a small gasp. He stepped away from the case, still staring at the trophy for the Quidditch cup. 

"Draco!" He looked away from the case as Blaise walked up beside him. "Something interesting in there?" 

Draco looked back into the case. The trophy that had previously had Harry Potter and his own name inscribed now read something different.   


_Ravenclaw Quidditch Team   
Captain Charlie Parker_   


"Draco? I thought you'd be in the Great Hall by now." Pansy joined the two of them, glancing from the trophy case to Draco, who finally tore his gaze away from the statue. 

"I was waiting for you," he said, turning away from the case. Pansy noticed that he didn't look directly at either Blaise or herself. "I came up with an idea to hex the Gryffindors table," he added after a moment, and then began heading for the Great Hall. 

Pansy and Blaise followed, but not before Pansy leaned over to inspect the trophy that Draco had been studying. Her eyes narrowed, but she soon hurried along to catch up with the other two.   


* * *   


Harry left breakfast for his first class, Potions, in an extremely bad mood. All of the dishes and silverware on the Gryffindor seemed to hop away from the tired students who just wanted to eat. Harry, Ron, and quite a few others resorted to eating with their hands. 

Ron and Hermione walked a little bit behind Harry, figuring that he was just in the middle of one of his brooding campaigns. After dealing with several minutes of total silence from Harry, however, Hermione couldn't take it. She sped up a bit to catch up with Harry. 

"Anything in particular that's causing that expression on your face, Harry?" 

Harry glanced up, a bit startled. "What expression?" 

"You are positively glowering at everything. What's wrong?" 

"Um… bad morning," Harry lied. "I had a hard time waking up." The vision in the mirror wasn't something he wanted to discuss. 

"Well, cheer up, man!" Ron said, coming up on Harry's other side and lighting slapping him on the back. "You're starting to look like a Slytherin!" 

Ron and Hermione laughed, but Harry could only smile weakly. He fell behind the other two now, as they continued on to class. He kept his eyes to the ground as he once again mulled over the strange vision in the mirror. 

When Harry looked up, Ron and Hermione were no longer in front of him. Confused, Harry turned around, looking for one red head and one bushy head. When he saw no heads at all, he realized he had absolutely no idea where he was. 

Harry looked both ways down the peculiar corridor. It had been nearly a year since he had last found a part of Hogwarts he'd never seen before, and nearly two years since he had gotten lost. Knowing he was going to be late for potions and would have to face the wrath of Snape upon him, he decided to try and quickly find his way back, thinking that he'd probably gotten on the wrong moving staircase. 

He began walking again, hoping to spot something familiar. There were no paintings in this hall, so he couldn't even stop to ask for directions. 

"I've been looking everywhere for you, Harry. Professor Snape has been trying to find you all morning." 

Harry froze. He knew that voice all too well, and it had never called him "Harry." Slowly, he turned around to face his blond rival, anger rising inside of him. 

"What are you playing at, Malfoy?" Harry hissed. 

Draco's eyes narrowed. "What the hell crawled up your ass?" 

"You," Harry snapped. 

Draco threw his head back and laughed. Harry then noticed that Draco's hair was slightly longer than he remembered. "That might be true, Harry. Maybe I should say 'why the hell are you behaving like an ass?'" 

"I have to go to class." Harry turned to leave. Why in the world was Draco calling him 'Harry?' 

A flicker of confusion ran across Draco's face. "No, you don't. You have a free period right now. We both do." 

"We're both supposed to be in potions right now!" Harry snapped, turning around to glare at Draco. 

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Draco shot back, his voice growing louder. "What are you acting like this?" 

Harry sneered at Draco. "Shove off, Malfoy," he said just before turning and running down the hallway. 

He hadn't missed the look on Draco's face as he left - it looked as if the blond Slytherin was stunned at what Harry had said. 

Harry didn't know where he was running, nor did he really care. His encounter with the strangely behaving Malfoy had shaken him. 

Suddenly, he was right beside the door to the potions classroom - with time to spare. He entered the classroom, and froze. 

Sitting in his regular seat in the front row, Draco Malfoy was getting out his materials for class. 

Harry's eyes widened, and he found himself clenching his teeth. He took a breath and bit the inside of his cheek as he walked past Malfoy to the back of the room. 

"Harry! Where did you go?" Hermione asked as Harry took his seat. "You were right behind us, and then we turned a corner and you weren't there anymore." 

Harry didn't answer. He was too busy staring at a certain blond Slytherin. 

Draco Malfoy had short hair, slicked back. The Draco Malfoy he had run into the mysterious hall had hair below his ears, and it fell loose. The Malfoy in front of him was also wearing different clothes that the one in the hall. 

The Malfoy in front of him noticed him staring, and he sneered back. "What are you staring at, Potter?" he hissed. 

Harry sighed. "Something very disturbing," he replied truthfully. 

Draco was about to remark on that when Snape burst into the room, signaling the beginning of class. 

Snape immediately began writing things on the board, with a swift order to copy everything he wrote. Harry picked up his quill and began writing, but his thoughts wouldn't leave what had transpired a few minutes ago. 

Harry had seen several strange happenings during his time at Hogwarts, and quite a few of them were more outlandish than his bizarre meeting with Malfoy. He quickly began mentally listing possibilities. ~_Perhaps someone in polyjuice, playing a trick on me?_~ He dismissed that thought; no one would be so eager to trick him that they would go to the lengths of brewing the polyjuice potion. 

He also crossed out many other probable causes, as well as instigators of such a prank. Ron certainly wouldn't play a trick like that. Fred and George were ruled out since they had no way of getting to Hogwarts, although Harry kept them in the back of his mind. Seamus or Dean didn't have the determination to prank him, and Neville didn't have the means. After much deliberation, he also crossed Malfoy himself off the list, on the basis that Malfoy couldn't possibly have a motive to present a 'nice' version of himself to Harry. 

~_Maybe Malfoy IS an evil twin, and the good twin has escapsed from Malfoy Manor..._~ Harry thought, a small smile playing on his lips. 

"Potter!" Harry snapped his head up at Snape's sharp tone. He realized he had long since stopped copying and instead just been staring blankly at his parchment. 

"Sorry, Profressor Snape," Harry said quietly, quickly scribbling the last few steps of the Matamilla Potion on his parchment. 

"Ten points from Gryffindor, for grinning like an idiot instead of doing your work." A quiet laughter came from the Slytherin's side of the room. Snape went back to the lesson, and Harry let his thoughts wander back to his humorous evil twin theory. Hermione elbowed him as a glassy look came over his eyes. 

~_Two Draco Malfoys. That's a laugh,_~ Harry thought before finally attempting to fully turn his attention to Snape's lesson.   


* * * 

As class ended and Draco was gathering up his books and notes, he felt someone watching him. He looked up and scanned the classroom, noticing Potter staring at him through narrowed eyes. 

"What is your problem, Potter?" he hissed, slamming his Potions book shut. "You act as if you've never seen me before." 

Potter merely blinked at him, and raised an eyebrow. "Have I?" With that, he swept past Draco and out the door. 

Pansy watched him go, then turned to Draco. "What do you think that means?" she asked him. 

Draco ignored her, shoving books into his bag with unnecessary force. "Idiot Potter," he muttered bitterly. "Trying to be bloody cryptic..." In truth, Potter's behavior had created an unsettling feeling in his stomach, all too similar to the sensation he'd had after that morning's hallucination. 

Draco closed his bag and stormed towards the door. 

"I think you need a nap, Draco," Blaise commented, a laughed rising in his throat. Draco didn't stop and left the Potions dungeon without responding. 

Draco now had a free period, and he decided to go to the library to study for his Arithmancy exam. As he walked, the feelings lessened. ~What do I care what Potter's behaving like?~ he thought, dismissing the vision he'd seen this morning as something he'd imagined due to his lack of sleep. 

When he reached the library, he felt a sudden wave of dizziness come over him. He reached out and gripped the edge of the doorway, putting a hand to his head. 

"Draco? What's wong?" 

The blond Slytherin looked up, but with the vertigo he had, he had no way to tell who it was. "Dizzy…" Draco said softly. "I think I'm going to pass out." Draco's knees gave out, and he pitched forward. 

Whoever the person was managed to catch him and help him into a chair. "Drink too much again, Draco?" the stranger said, giving a small laugh. 

"No!" Draco snapped, upset at his display of weakness. The room's spinning was slowing down. "I just didn't sleep enough." 

"Still feel like you're going to pass out?" 

"No. I'm fine." Draco squeezed his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You can leave now." 

The stranger made a sound that resembled a sigh of relief. "That's good , although you sill should probably go see Madame Pomfrey." 

"I'll be fine," Draco said. 

"That's right - you won't go when you really need help, but you're more than willing to subject yourself to Madame Pomfrey when you want to get out of class. You even faked the fucking flu." 

~_I never told anyone I faked that,_~ Draco thought. Confusion washed over him, but Draco felt good enough to lift his head. "What do YOU know?" he snapped just before he recognized the 'stranger' in front of him. 

Harry Potter, minus one pair of glasses, minus one Gryffindor uniform, and plus one Slytherin uniform, sat before him. 

"Potter?" Draco said, his vertigo coming back full trottle. 

He passed out.   


* * *   


Harry was more confused than he'd been all day. 

One second, Harry had been leaving potions and heading to divination with Ron. 

Now he was in the library and staring at an unconscious Draco Malfoy. 

Harry only had one thing to say. 

"What the HELL is going on here?"   


_To be continued!!_

* * *

A/N: Charlie Parker, as in Charlier Parker the sax player. First name that name to mind. ^_^ 


	2. Part II: Missing Persons

** Doppelganger, Part II   
Missing Persons**   
  


Krystiana krissy@zahadum.com 

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue. (aka HP and all other characters belong to JKR and whole bunch of other people, blah, blah, blah...) 

This story is in no way related to my other HP work in progress, "The Dark." For those of you that keep up with that story, a release of a new chapter might come as a surprise to you. I'm usually quite slow at releasing a new chapter. 

The story is coming together, and it will start making a little bit more sense in the chapter after this one. Right now, you are meant to be confused, so don't worry if you are. *wink* 

Version two of this chapter. After this, there SHOULD be only a version one of each chapter. Once again, humongous thanks to my beta, Emma Grant. Yer kicking ass. Woo-yah!! *waves flags and toots a horn*   


* * *

  


A pretty woman was smiling at him. She had long, wavy, dark brown hair, and her smile grew when she saw his eyes open. 

"How are you feeling?" she asked him. 

"Not so bad, I suppose. Where am I?" 

The woman chuckled. "The hospital wing, silly boy!" 

Draco Malfoy immediately sat up as he remembered the last thing he'd seen. 

Potter. 

Potter in Slytherin colors, no less. As Draco thought about it, the colors looked better on the Gryffindor that the red and gold of his own house. That disgusting shade of red clashed with Potter's very green eyes… 

Draco mentally slapped himself. Where had that thought come from? 

"Is something wrong, Mr. Malfoy?" 

The blonde looked up. The pretty woman who was watching over him was a painting on the wall. He had learned many things since coming to Hogwarts, one of them being that paintings were useful for the information they could give. "How did I get here, Ms…" 

"Potter. Edelia Potter." 

Draco stared at the painting. "How perfect," he muttered, rolling his head back. The beautiful woman was a painting of a Potter. 

"What was that?" Edelia asked. 

"Nothing. Do you know how I got here, Edelia?" 

"My great-great-great grandson brought you here. Harry Potter's his name," Edelia said, her chest puffing up with pride. "He was the cause of the terrifying You-Know-Who's downfall, you know. My poor great-great-grandson died in that same attack. Oh, it was upsetting... but Harry is a true Potter. Perhaps you've heard of him?" 

"I know who he is!" Draco snapped, annoyed at the entire situation. Why the hell did Potter have to haunt him so much? 

Edelia sniffed. "Well… you're very rude." She turned her head a bit and called, "Madame Pomfrey! Your patient is awake!" As Madame Pomfrey bustled across the hospital wing to the side of Draco's bed, the painting added quietly, "and biting, I'm afraid." 

"Awake, Mr. Malfoy?" Madame Pomfrey asked. "Good. Eat this, and then you are free to return to your classes," she said, handing him a piece of chocolate. She turned to leave, but Draco stopped her, putting a hand on her arm. 

"Will you tell me what happened?" Draco demanded. 

Madame Pomfrey looked down at his hand, then back at him. "Remove your hand from me, Mr. Malfoy." Draco did so, and the nurse turned to face him. "Mr. Potter brought you here, saying that you had passed out. He put you on a bed, said he had to go to class and was late. I wrote him a pass, and ten minutes later, you woke up. Now I'm giving you orders to eat that chocolate and go to class." 

Draco narrowed his eyes. The nurse had never liked him since he was quite often the cause of Potter's frequent visits to the hospital. "It should be obvious I'm not faking this time. Do you even know why I passed out? Or why I was feeling so dizzy before I passed out?" 

Madame Pomfrey sighed. "Very well. Stand up, Mr. Malfoy, so I can give you a proper checkup." 

Draco stood. The nurse looked into his eyes, and asked him to stand on one leg. "What were you doing before you became dizzy?" she asked. 

"Nothing. I was going into the library." 

"What did you eat for breakfast?" 

"Sausage, eggs, and a roll." 

Madame Pomfrey raised an eyebrow. "Well, Mr. Malfoy, I see absolutely no reason for you to have passed out, and seeing as how I can quite easily give a clean bill of health now, I will have to release you to your classes." 

"What if it happens again?" 

"Then come see me." Madame Pomfrey took a small piece of parchment out of her pocket. "What class are you supposed to be in?" 

"If only ten minutes have passed since I passed out, then I still have a free period." 

"Are you returning to the library?" 

"Yes." 

Madame Pomfrey scribbled something on the parchment. "That's a hall pass. You will go straight to the library," she said, handing it over to him. With that, she turned around and walked back into a small office across the wing. 

Draco sighed, but still sat on the bed, mulling over the few minutes he had been awake. ~_Potter brought me here,_~ he thought. ~_What possessed him to do that?_~ 

"He wanted me to let you know he still didn't like you." 

Draco looked up to see Edelia smiling at him. "What?" 

"Harry said that he still didn't like you. Isn't it admirable that he'll still help an enemy in a time of need?" 

Draco stood, sneering at the painting. "You're dead. In fact, you're not even Edelia. Stop swooning over people that are someone else's decendents, you old spook." 

Edelia narrowed her eyes at the blonde. "Goodbye, Mr. Malfoy. Do try to work on your attitude." Draco rolled his eyes and began walking towards the door of the hospital wing. As he headed out the door, he noticed something unusual out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see a mirror. 

He saw his own reflection, but it wasn't him. His hair wasn't slicked back, and parts of it fell in his eyes. Draco reflexively put a hand to his own head, and felt the hair to be smooth and slick against his head. The reflection did the same. 

As he watched, a second person entered the mirror. Harry Potter walked up beside his reflection and whispered something in the ear of his double. 

The blonde Slytherin silently fled the hospital wing.   


* * *   


_"Harry, why am I on the floor?" Draco asked, sitting up. Harry was holding him, looking at the blonde with concern in his eyes. _

"You passed out, Draco. You haven't been eating right." 

Draco's eyes narrowed. "Don't bring that up again, Harry." He pushed himself away from Harry, standing up. "I feel perfectly fine, and I don't need you lecturing me." Draco began heading to the bathrooms. 

"Draco, wait!" Harry stood as well, picking up his pace to catch up with Draco. "Why are you acting so pissed at me? You've been acting like this all day." 

Draco did not stop walking. "Does 'shove off, Malfoy' sound familiar?" he hissed. 

"No. Who said that to you, Draco?" Harry asked. 

"You did." 

Harry stared at Draco with an incredulous look. "No, I didn't." 

"Why are you lying?" Draco asked, stopping in front of the bathroom door and turning back towards Harry. "You said it directly to me about an hour ago." 

"I'm not lying!" Harry snapped. "I've not said something like that to you since our first year!" 

Draco stared at Harry for a few solid moments. "You never said that?" 

"No!" 

Draco searched Harry's eyes a little bit longer, and then entered the bathroom. Harry stood outside, contemplating whether to follow Draco or not. He began walking away from the door, and then back again in indecision. Finally, he pushed the bathroom door open. 

He walked up to Draco, who, of course, was staring in a mirror. Harry smirked. "You're so vain..." he whispered in a sing-song voice, in the tune of some Muggle "oldie." Usually, it made Draco laugh. Harry glanced into the mirror, startled to see Draco's reflection run out of the picture. 

Draco was silent. "Something very strange is happening, Harry."   


* * *   


"Why aren't you two working on your homework?" Hermione demanded when she returned from the library, watching as Ron's queen knocked yet another one of Harry's pawns to pieces. 

"We've already finished it, 'Mione," Harry said. "We finished it while you were in the library." 

Hermione's eyebrows disappeared into her hair. "Really?" 

"Yup," Ron said, sitting back in his chair and waiting for Harry to make his move. The game would be over in four moves; three if Harry moved his knight. "Would you mind looking over it for us?" 

Hermione stared at the two of them. "I suppose." Both boys immediately reached to their sides and pulled out their books and parchment, as if they were prepared for that moment. They handed them over to Hermione. "I can't believe this," she muttered. "You two actually finished your homework." She wandered over to the sofa and took a seat. 

Ron and Harry took their time finishing up their chess game, which Ron did finish in three moves, as he had predicted. 

"Check mate, Harry." 

Harry shrugged. He had been beaten by Ron enough times to not get the slightest bent out of shape over it. They meandered over to the sofa where Hermione was curled up. 

"Your work looks good, but where are your essays for Snape?" she asked, reading over the last bit of Harry's essay for McGonagall. 

Ron collapsed on the sofa next to Hermione. "It's not due for another three days, Hermione, and it's only a three-footer." 

"And six if you like to write with inch-high letters," Hermione said, quoting Snape's speech from class. "That was directed specifically towards you, Ron, and you know it. You two haven't started it yet?" 

"We'll start it tomorrow, Hermione," Ron yawned. "And I supposed you've already finished it." 

"Of course!" She glanced back towards Harry's essay, reading over the last few lines. "You need a better concluding sentence, Harry," she said, looking back up. To her surprise, Harry was not beside the sofa. She turned her head, giving the Gryffindor common room a quick look-over. "Harry?" She looked back to Ron. "Where did Harry go?"   


* * *   


"Next lesson, bring me a paragraph on the properties of wormswort. I also want you to compare the effects of using it whole to using it diced." The first year Slytherin began packing up her things. 

"Thank you, Draco. You're really helping me out a lot." 

Draco smiled at the first year. "It's not a problem, Karine. Just as long as your grades start picking up in Potions." 

Karine smiled back. "They already have been." She turned back to her things, putting her books and parchment in a pile. "I really do appreciate this, Draco…" she said. She picked up her things, turning back towards where the blonde had been standing. 

"Draco?" 

He was nowhere to be seen.   


* * *   


_"Draco, we know something strange is happening, but we have absolutely no information. All we know is…" Harry paused. _

"We know nothing, actually," Draco stated. "I met a person who looked exactly you, but wasn't you. And we both keep seeing strange things in mirrors." 

"I keep seeing my reflection wearing a Gryffindor uniform. It's a little disconcerting." 

Draco sighed, closing another book. "I don't even know what to look for." 

"What should we do?" 

He sighed once again. "I suppose we should just wait." 

Harry sat back in his chair, balancing it on the back two legs. "I don't like waiting. Why does all the strange stuff happen to us, Draco?" 

Draco looked sideways at Harry as he picked up another book and began to flip through it. "I think all the strange stuff happens to you, Harry, and I just get caught up in it, too. You're a magnet for weird." 

Harry let his chair fall back to all fours with a small clatter. "Let's just go to bed, Draco. We're not going to figure anything out tonight." 

The blonde looked at Harry, smirking. "What are you trying to insinuate, Harry?" 

Harry stood up, grabbing, Draco's arm. "Nothing at all." 

"Trying to bed me, Harry Potter?" Draco stood as well, beginning to clear up the books. 

"Maybe," Harry said, reaching out and turning the blonde towards him. "What do you think?" He leaned forward and captured the blonde's lips in a kiss.   


* * *   


Harry didn't know how he got where he was at that moment, but he didn't particularly care. He was kissing someone, and fire was running through his veins. 

Draco didn't know how he got where he was at the moment, either. His lips were wrapped around someone else's, their tongues curling together in an exotic dance. There were sparks everywhere in his body. 

This was the perfect moment. The kiss was perfect. Whoever this was, they were perfect. 

Harry's fingers were running through the other person's hair. It was soft and silky, though a little bit stiff in some places, as if it had hair gel in it. 

Draco moaned, and reached out, trying to draw the other person's lips closer to his own. Their lips mashed together even harder, causing a shudder to erupt from both of them. 

The kiss slowed down, and both boys finally stopped, ending with them just holding each other. 

Slowly, Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter opened their eyes, each finding himself staring at his sworn rival.   
  
To be continued. Keeehahaha. I torture.   


Moo! Moo!! Mooo!!! I am voodoo cursing you!!   
-Happy Noodle Boy 


	3. Part III: What? What?

**Doppelganger   
Part III: What? What? **

by Krystiana   
krissy@zahadum.com 

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Don't own. Don't sue. I mean no harm by playing around in JKR's universe. If you haven't read the HP books, why the hell are you reading this? 

**Archive:** My site (), FanFiction.net, Noire Sensus (if they should get a hold of this), Schnoogle (eventually). All else, ask first, and ye shall probably recieve. ^_^ 

Thank you, my beta, Emma Grant! She rocks! Whee! *give Emma a Draco plushie* 

Part III. Have fun. Comments are always appreciated. Yay! 

* * *

"What I don't understand is how Harry slipped out of the common room without us noticing. I didn't hear the painting open or close," Hermione was saying, as Ron and Hermione both stepped out of the fat lady's portrait hole. "And he left his invisibility clock behind. It's as if he just disappeared." 

Ron shrugged. "Maybe he just wanted to be alone. He's been doing that a lot this year." A grim silence fell between them as they began walking down the hall. Harry's grief over Sirius's death had eased since the end of their fifth year, but he still took time to himself to think and reflect. 

"That's fine, but he should at least tell us before he leaves!" Hermione ranted. 

"Where do you think he went?" 

"I don't know." Hermione stopped walking when they came to an intersection in the hallway. "This is pointless. This castle is too huge to be looking for Harry. We should have brought the Marauder's Map. We should go back and get it." 

Ron stopped walking as well, but not because he wanted to give up so quickly. "Do you hear that?" 

"Hear what?" 

"I hear voices. One of them sounds like Harry." 

Hermione strained her ears, as well. "This way!" she turned the corner they were standing by, picking up her pace as she went. 

"That other voice sounds familiar, too - OW!" Ron cursed as he ran into Hermione, who had abruptly stopped walking again. "Warn me before you do that, 'Mione!" 

Hermione didn't say anything, but merely pointed ahead of her to the library. The door was open, and they could see two figures enveloped in a tight embrace. 

"Who's that?" Ron whispered. He squinted, as if trying to see the two people better. He could see a boy with extremely messy brown hair, but could not see the other person. "Is that… Harry?" 

"Yes… but I can't tell who he's with." 

"He's… Harry's snogging someone!" Ron exclaimed as he saw Harry's hand reach up to run his fingers through the other person's hair. "Way to go, Harry!" 

Hermione elbowed him to keep him quiet. "Let's go, Ron." 

"What?! Why? I want to see who Harry's snogging!" Ron stared at Hermione as if she had a toad growing out of her head. 

"It's none of our business, Ron. Harry will tell us when he's ready." She put her hand firmly on Ron's arm and began pulling him away from the scene. 

"But… but…" 

"But that won't stop us from questioning him relentlessly when he gets back." Ron glanced at Hermione, then flashed her a grin.   


* * *   


Both boys merely stared at each other for a few seconds before reacting. 

Their reaction was exactly the same. Sounds of disgust tore from their throats, and they jumped apart, wiping their mouths. 

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Potter?" Draco demanded, actually going as far as to spit, as if remove all traces of Harry from him. 

"Me? What do you think you're doing? You were the one who was kissing ME, Malfoy!" 

"Like I'd want to kiss your ugly face, Potter!" Draco sneered at Harry, dragging his hand across his mouth one more time. "What spell did you screw up to make this happen?" 

"It's not my fault!" Harry shouted. 

A sudden scratching made them both look towards the door. Mrs. Norris appeared, her eyes glowing brightly. Harry swore he could see a grin spread across the cat's face. 

Neither boy knew if it was past curfew or not, but Filch would surely find a reason to get them in trouble if they hadn't. When Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter were in the same place at the same time, it usually meant trouble. Both of them took off running in opposite directions, leaving Mrs. Norris unsure of which way to go.   


* * *   


_ Draco's eyes shot open, abuptly pushing a startled Harry away from him. _

"Draco?" Harry asked uncertainly. 

"I just... felt something," Draco said, his eyes narrowing so much they were almost closed. "Something cold." 

Harry raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'something cold?'" 

Draco turned around, eyes sweeping over the library. "I mean that something cold just went through me." 

"Like a cold breeze or something?" 

"No!" Draco said, turning back towards Harry. "Breezes can't go THROUGH people. Didn't you feel it?" Harry shook his head, and Draco looked around the library once more before gathering up his books. "Let's just go, Harry." He began walking towards the door without waiting for Harry. 

Harry blinked, then rushed to pick up his own books and to catch up with Draco. "What's wrong?" 

Clenching his teeth, Draco glanced at his lover. "I don't know, Harry."   


* * *   


Harry walked back into the fat lady's portrait-hole, rubbing his temples. He started to head upstairs to bed, when he heard a very soft, but very demanding "Ahem." 

He looked over towards the sofa, where Ron and Hermione were sitting with expressions he couldn't read. A wave of guilt rushed over Harry. He wasn't sure how he'd left in the first place, but he had been gone quite a long time, he imagined. 

"Harry, come sit." Hermione patted the sofa cushion next to hers. Beside her, Ron was smirking, and Harry suddenly felt quite uneasy about the situation. He took his time walking over to the two of them, and he did not sit next to them when he reached them, instead settling in one of the chairs next to the sofa. 

"Why do I have the feeling I'm about to get questioned?" 

"Because you are!" Ron exclaimed, jumping out of his seat. "Who are you snogging, Harry?" 

Harry's eyes widened to saucers, his mouth falling open. "What?!" he said, his voice oddly squeaky. 

"Don't play dumb with us, Harry," Hermione said. "We saw you kissing somebody. We didn't want to interrupt you, and I think you should repay us for that by telling us who it was." 

"Repay you?" Harry squeaked again, sinking into his chair. 

"You were gone a long time, Harry. How far did you two go?" Ron demanded, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he sat back down. 

"I…" 

"You can trust us, Harry. We're you're best friends." Hermione's expression was serious, but a small smile played at her lips. 

By now, Harry was extremely pale. He swallowed a few times, and then looked Hermione in the eyes. "I don't think I can tell you." 

"What?" Ron shouted, leaping off the sofa once more. "Of course you can tell us!" 

Harry was shaking his head, standing up from his chair. "I can't. I'm sorry, Ron." He began walking towards the stairs to the boys' dormitory. Ron moved to follow him, but Hermione grabbed onto his arm and shook her head. 

"Harry?" she called after him. He stopped, but did not turn around. "Will you tell us eventually?" 

"Maybe."   


* * *   


_Harry attempted to rub the sleep from his eyes. _

"Aww… is poor Harry tired?" 

Harry tried to glare at Draco, but was interrupted by a jaw-splitting yawn. The blonde laughed as he turned back to the mirror and continued combing through his wet hair. 

"Jerk," Harry muttered. "Move over. I need to brush my teeth." 

"No." 

"What do you mean, 'no?'" Harry demanded. "You've been combing your hair for ten minutes!" 

"And I intend to comb for twenty. Wait your turn." 

Harry growled and grumbled at Draco, but waited. Although he wouldn't admit it, he rather liked watching Draco groom himself. 

"Why are you so grumpy this morning?" Draco asked, looking at Harry's scowling face in the reflection of the mirror. 

Harry sighed. "Didn't sleep well," he said softly. "Too distracted by the… weird thing." 

Draco nodded. "It is a bit disturbing. I hardly slept at all, either." 

"I have a very bad feeling about this, Draco." 

The blond immediately put his comb down and turned to Harry, concern evident in his features. "Harry, the last time you said that…" 

"Was right before Voldemort took me. I know." 

"You nearly died." 

"And Voldemort did die," Harry said, reaching out for Draco's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "But… I just have this feeling…" 

"What? What do you feel?" 

"Even though I know he's very, very dead, I think Voldemort has something to do with this." 

"What?" Draco exclaimed, his eyes widening. "How is that possible? Are you sure?" 

"Positive." 

"But… he's dead. Even Dumbledore said he was dead," Draco said, shaking his head in disbelief. 

"He is dead, Draco," Harry said. "But that doesn't mean he can't have anything to do with what's going on." 

Draco searched Harry's face for a moment, then turned back to the mirror. When he saw the reflection, he froze. "Harry…" 

"What?" Harry was staring at the ground, deep in thought. 

"Look." Draco pointed at the mirror. 

There was no Draco in the reflection - only Harry, and it was a Harry who was wearing a Gryffindor uniform instead of a Slytherin. The Gryffindor Harry stared at the two of them with his mouth open in… shock? 

Harry's lips twisted into a snarl, and he leapt past Draco at the mirror, hitting his hands on the wall on each side. "Who ARE you?" he demanded. 

The image faded, leaving only Harry's angry face and Draco's slightly confused one.   


* * *   


Dropping his toothbrush, Harry jumped back from the mirror when he saw his other self come charging at him from the other side. Reeling back with a sharp gasp, his back hit the wall and he shot out of the bathroom. He ran into his dorm, his face pale. His roommates were getting dressed and looked up as he entered. 

"Harry? You all right?" Seamus asked. "You look like I did the first time I saw a banshee." 

Harry stared at his roommates, then left, ignoring Ron's call that came after him. It was impossible to find a place to be alone in Gryffindor tower. He leaned against the wall in the staircase down to the common room. 

That… Slytherin version of himself had said that Voldemort was gone for good. Were these visions a sight of another world, or what could have been? 

Harry slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. His 'other' self had already fulfilled the prophecy. Voldemort was dead in their world. 

And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal… 

Tom Riddle, the boy who became Voldemort had been a half-blood, just like Harry. Riddle also had a horrible childhood, just like Harry. But Riddle had been in Slytherin, and Harry was in Gryffindor… 

Slytherin will lead you to greatness… 

Harry moaned and put his head in his hands. ~_Did I screw up the prophecy six years ago when I got sorted?_~ he thought. ~_The Sorting Hat was adamant about putting me in Slytherin, but I argued. Dumbledore said my arguing, my choice, was a good thing…_~ 

Of course, Dumbledore had proved last year that he made mistakes, just like everybody else. Perhaps Dumbledore was wrong. Harry should have been in Slytherin, been Tom Riddle's equal. Even if Harry had been in Slytherin, he was sure he wouldn't have lost sight of the fact that Voldemort was evil. If he had been in Slytherin, perhaps Voldemort would already be dead…   


* * *   


A skeletal hand reached out to touch the mirror. 

"All the pieces are in place." 

The hand traced down the engravings on the frame. 

"Soon, Harry Potter will either stand by my side, or he will destroy himself." 

The being attached to the hand stepped closer to the mirror, yet no reflection was cast. 

"Wormtail, send Bellatrix to me. I wish to reward her for finding this most valuable item." 

A skinny, balding, cowering man bent down at the being's feet. 

"Yes, my Lord Master Voldemort."   


_To be continued… _

* * *

Review Responses: 

MedNar - You've got it, mostly. One thing you said is wrong - you'll find out exactly what that is later. ^_^ The definition of Doppelganger that I read is "a ghostly double or counterpart of a living person." Me likey. ^_^ 

DeathStryke - They... did realize they were kissing, but they didn't know WHO they were kissing. As my beta said, it's a guy thing. "Getting transported from one place to another, finding themselves kissing somebody passionately, and they both react hormonally." (Or she said something to that effect... can't remember exactly.) 

Dea Draconis - You like exactly what I like. Slytherin!Harry with slash. Yum. ^_^ Don't worry, I'll definitely be continuing the story. I'm too excited about it to stop now. WHEE. 

MissAssassin - Well, I'm part German, but I don't speak German. It sounds strange, but certain words were passed down in my family, and we used random German words here and there. "Doppelganger" is not one of them, but it's a word that's stuck with me. 

Thanks to all who reviewed!!! 

I plan on releasing a chapter every two weeks or so, although everything depends on how life goes for both me and my beta. I'll perfectly patient with my beta... she's doing a kicky-booty job, so it doesn't really matter to me how long she takes! 


	4. Part IV: Possession

**Doppelganger   
Part IV: Possession**

by Krystiana   
krissy@zahadum.com 

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Don't own. Don't sue. I mean no harm by playing around in JKR's universe. If you haven't read the HP books, why the hell are you reading this? 

**Archive:** My site (), FanFiction.net, Noire Sensus (if they should get a hold of this), Schnoogle (eventually). All else, ask first, and ye shall probably recieve. ^_^ 

Once again, big thanks to ze beta, Emma Grant!! *dances around Emma with lollypops and sparkly things*   
Trust me... you wouldn't want to have this chapter without her tearing it apart first. It's for the best. ^___^ 

* * *

Draco stood in front of the vanity, glaring at his reflection. His reflection glared right back at him. 

"You look as if you're angry with ME," his reflection said, narrowing his eyes. 

"I am." 

"I only show the truth. Don't blame me for your getting a pimple on the end of your nose." 

"I am NOT getting a pimple!" Draco snapped. 

"All right, I lied," his reflection said in a bored tone. "You look perfect today, as usual. So why, may I ask, are you angry at **me**?" 

"Because any moment now, you'll transform into a complete wanker who's in love with Harry Potter!" Draco exclaimed, spinning on his heel and walking away from the mirror. 

"You're in love with Harry Potter?!" 

"No!" 

"Well, I'm you. If I'm in love with Potter, so are you!" 

"I am not!" Draco furiously turned back towards the mirror. "And you are **not** me. I am me." 

"And I am a reflection of you, so I am whatever *you* are. Including in love with Potter, if that's the case." His reflection smirked at him. "So what do you see in him? His graceful Gryffindor charm?" 

"Shut UP!" Draco yelled, throwing his hands into the air and stalking out of his dorm room. 

Pansy stood in the hall, staring at him as he stormed past. "Who were you yelling at?" 

"The mirror." 

"Again?"   


* * *   


_"I don't know, Draco. Maybe these visions are trying to tell us something." _

"Like what?" Draco said. "That you'd still have to wear glasses if you were in Gryffindor?" 

Harry finished putting on his robes and settled on the bed. "No... maybe it's just showing me what my life may have been like had I been sorted into Gryffindor." He lay back on the bed and looked at the ceiling. "So many people have told me that I was meant to wear red and gold. Maybe these visions are showing me what was supposed to be." 

Suddenly, Draco pinned Harry down to the mattress with a furious look on his face. "It doesn't matter who your parents were, or what 'everyone' says. These visions are just messing with your head, because you are a Slytherin. You are **my** Slytherin." 

Harry searched Draco's eyes for a moment. "Maybe I was meant to be a Gryffindor." 

"If you were meant to be in Gryffindor, you'd be **in** Gryffindor." Draco pecked Harry on the lips before allowing him to sit up. "Besides, you'd look horrible in red and gold." 

Harry smirked at his lover as he stood. "You're so sweet, Draco."   


* * *   


Immediately after Transfiguration, Harry headed for the library. Lunch was next, and he then had a free period. He planned on skipping lunch and researching all the way through until Care of Magical Creatures. Harry had every intention of finding out what was happening to him. He was starting to be seriously annoyed by these visions in the mirrors implying that he should have been in Slytherin. 

He also had no intention of waking up and finding himself kissing Malfoy ever again. 

But when Harry approached the shelves, he realized that he had absolutely no clue where to begin. How could he search for answers when he didn't even know what questions to ask? 

It was the kind of problem he needed Hermione's help to solve. 

However, Harry didn't exactly want to tell her that he had been kissing Draco Malfoy, or that he had been very close to being sorted into Slytherin years ago. Aside from Dumbledore, no one knew that particular secret of his, and Harry intended to keep it that way. 

Harry found himself staring at the titles of the books, but not really reading any of them. What did he know of the situation thus far? He'd seen some strange things in mirrors and had some bizarre encounters with a Malfoy who was very different from the one he knew. Harry also had some memory gaps, and twice had found himself in a completely different place than he had been only a few moments before... 

After considering for a few minutes, he decided to check out some books on possession. It was a logical explanation. After all, from what he had learned in his Defense against the Dark Arts class, he had all the symptoms. Despite the situation, he snickered to himself, knowing that Malfoy had the exact same ailments. 

He pulled a few books off the shelf and settled down at a table. He began skimming through book after book, writing down things he thought might be important. 

"Harry?" Harry jumped, looking up to see Hermione across the table. "I was wondering what you were doing. We missed you at lunch." 

"Oh, I'm sorry," Harry said, closing the book he had been reading. 

"Ron's in the hospital wing. Lavender had some so-called 'cosmetic' potion that was supposed to soften skin. She spilled it all over him." 

"What happened to him?" 

"His skin was soft, all right... just a little bit too soft. It was kind of... dripping." 

Harry flinched. "Ouch." 

"Yes, so he won't be in Care of Magical Creatures with us today. Madame Pompfrey said he should be okay by dinner." 

"That's good," Harry said, absently tracing the title of one of the books in front of him. 

Hermione searched Harry's face for a moment. "Harry, can I ask you a question?" 

Harry nodded. 

Hermione sat down in the chair across from Harry. "Why won't you tell us who you were kissing last night? Don't you trust us?" 

Harry let out a rushing sigh. "It's not that Hermione. It's just..." 

"Just what?" 

"That kiss wasn't... on purpose." 

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?" 

"Well, neither of us really meant to kiss the other." 

Hermione let out a short laugh. "Harry, I may have been watching from a distance, but I could tell you were enjoying yourself." She grinned, and leaned forward. "Besides, almost all first kisses aren't 'on purpose.'" 

Harry looked down at the table. It was true - although he'd had no idea how the kiss started, he was the one who continued it. Harry had **liked** finding himself in that kiss. He unconsciously put a hand up to his lips, feeling them tingle in memory. 

Realizing Hermione was watching him, he quickly covered it by leaning his arm on the table. 

"Harry, are you all right?" 

He looked straight back at Hermione, feeling a sudden urge to confess everything to her. However, Hermione knew that he had **enjoyed** that kiss, and he couldn't possibly tell her that it had been Draco Malfoy, of all people. 

Harry took off his glasses and put his head on the table. 

He did **not** want to deal with this right now. 

Hermione sighed, and looked at the books surrounding Harry. She picked one of them up to look at the title. 

~_'The Logic and Theory of Possession and Control?'_~ Hermione chewed on her bottom lip. Out of muggle habit, she turned the book over to see if there was a description of it on the back, which, of course, there was not. 

"Harry, why are you researching this?" 

A few seconds passed before Harry answered in a very quiet voice. "It's for Occlumency." 

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "I though you weren't studying Occlumency with Professor Snape anymore." 

Harry still did not raise his head, and again let a few seconds pass before replying. "I'm studying with Dumbledore. In secret. You weren't supposed to know." 

Snickering, Hermione accepted this answer, and flipped open the book, skimming over the introduction. She heard the door open and close behind her, and she turned around to see who had entered the library. Draco Malfoy stormed in, stopping for a brief moment when he spotted Harry and Hermione. He gritted his teeth and quickly disappeared into the stacks. 

~_That was strange,_~ Hermione thought. Usually, Malfoy would stop to exchange insults with them before going on his way. Today, however, he looked merely annoyed by their presence. 

Movement out of the corner of her eye made Hermione turn back towards Harry. He had lifted his head up, and Hermione noticed his eyes looked glassy. He didn't look at her. In fact, he didn't appear to be looking at anything. 

"Harry?" Ignoring her, Harry stood up, leaving his glasses on the table. He began walking away from the table, towards the library doors. 

"Harry! Wait!" Hermione stood as well, turning to follow Harry. However, she stopped almost immediately. Something was not right. 

As Harry was walking away from her, Hermione noticed that something about his entire body seemed out of focus. He was positively shimmering as he opened the door and exited the library. Hermione noticed, as he turned, that the crest on his robes was no longer red and gold, but silver and green. 

Hermione quickly began walking to catch up with him, but stopped again when Malfoy swept past her, leaving the same way Harry had. Malfoy had the same out of focus look to him. Hermione rubbed her eyes, wondering if something was wrong with her vision. She looked at her own hand, which appeared normal. 

Without another second's consideration, she ran out of the library.   


* * *   


_"There you are! I missed you at lunch." Draco wrapped his arms around Harry. _

"I'm sorry... I was in the library, trying to figure out what the hell has been happening to us." 

Draco smiled. "Harry, give it a rest for a while. For right now, it's nothing more than some visions in a mirror, so worry about it when it actually becomes something." 

"What about that feeling you had yesterday?" 

Draco shrugged. "If it happens again, we'll go talk to Professor Snape. I've barely seen you today. I'm worried about you, you know. And I'm tired of listening to you whine about how you were 'supposed to have been a Gryffindor.'" 

Harry grinned back at his lover. "You convinced me this morning that I'm a Slytherin." 

"MY Slytherin." 

"That's right." Harry leaned in to kiss him, but Draco suddenly doubled up in pain, clutching his stomach. "Draco?! What's wrong?" 

Dropping his books, Draco collapsed on the floor. "Something's... trying to pull me away from here. It's cold..." 

"Draco!" Harry gathered Draco up his arms, brushing hair away from his eyes. "You're not being taken anywhere!" He put a hand to Draco's forehead, which was burning up. "We're going to the hospital wing." 

"No... it's trying to take you, too," Draco said, looking up at Harry, clenching his teeth in pain. "Don't you feel it?" 

Harry stared at Draco, searching for some sensation of being pulled. He felt nothing. "I don't want to go, Harry..." 

"Sssh, love," Harry said, lifting Draco up. "You're not going anywhere. You're staying here with me." He began walking, but stopped when a sudden shiver went through Draco.   


* * *   


"HARRY?!" 

Harry turned around to see Hermione staring at him, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. He quickly realized that he was holding someone in his arms. Harry yelled something incomprehensible and dropped Draco Malfoy on the floor. 

Squeezing his eyes shut, Draco put his hand to the back of his head, his lips twisting into a snarl. "What the hell, Potter? Where the hell were you carrying me to?" He opened his eyes and glared at Harry. 

"I don't KNOW!" 

Hermione stood, merely staring at the both of them, her mouth opening and closing, but not saying anything. 

Draco stood, wincing. "You bruised me, Potter. What is this, another screwed-up spell? You perverted bastard, what are trying to do to me?" 

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" 

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" Both boys shut their mouths and looked over at Hermione. 

"That's exactly what I'd like to know," Draco said, sneering at Harry. "What the fuck did you do to us, Potter?" 

Harry glared back. "It's obviously your fault - you aren't even trying to fix it!" 

"Oh, and you are?" 

"This is some spell that YOU cast to get back at me for what I did to your father!" 

"Once I get back at you for that, it will NOT be something this mundane -" 

"Both of you, BE QUIET." Draco turned his icy stare on Hermione when she spoke. Hermione stared right back at him, her jaw set out. Harry recognized Hermione's stubborn look and knew that not even Draco Malfoy could refuse her. 

"You two are going to see Dumbledore. NOW."   


_To be continued...._

* * *

Review Responses!! WEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! :D 

**Dea Draconis**: Semi-German, yes, but I only know about six words in German. For some reason, "bless you," "thanks," and a few others words (that I can pronounce but couldn't possibly spell) have been passed down in my family. Feel free to contact me.   
I like my Slyth!Harry, too. You'll get to see a LOT more of him in upcoming chapters. *cackle* And what DO you imagine Voldemort plans for Harry? (Just curious... ^^) 

**Rebuky**: I'm actually still deciding whether or not to move away from FF.net. I still use it, so it would seem hypocritical of ME to leave it because I'm pissed at them. If I do leave, my member page will still be there. Feel free to visit my website!! It's on a REAL server (meaning no pop-up ads), and it usually gets the fics up before FF.net does. ^^ 

**CS WhiteWolf**: Bella will be in this story big time... yerrrrr. I dun like Bella, either. As for the mirror, you'll find out. ^_~ 

'Till next time!!   
(Meeting with Dumbledore next! Sparks FLY!!! Mwaha.) 


	5. Part V: Meetings

**Doppelganger   
Part V: Meetings**

by Krystiana   
krissy@zahadum.com 

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Don't own. Don't sue. I mean no harm by playing around in JKR's universe. If you haven't read the HP books, why the hell are you reading this? 

**Archive:** My site (), FanFiction.net, Noire Sensus (if they should get a hold of this), Schnoogle (eventually). All else, ask first, and ye shall probably recieve. ^_^ 

Emma Grant is my beta, and she rocks. Period. 

* * *

_Harry paced back and forth in front of the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey had shooed him out because he had been "hovering" too much, and getting in the way of her work. _

Although the situation was serious, Draco couldn't help but smirk at Harry as Pomfrey literally shoved him outside. 

"Harry? What are you doing here? We've got class soon." Harry turned to look at Pansy, who had a habit of showing up out of nowhere. 

"Draco." 

Pansy's eyes widened in alarm. "Draco? Is he okay? What's wrong with him?" 

Harry sighed and sank down to the floor, leaning against the corridor wall. "I don't know what's going on. He collapsed on me." 

"He's not eating right." Pansy narrowed her eyes at him. "Harry, when I handed him over to you, you promised to take care of him. It's your job to make sure he's eating what he's supposed to." She looked at the door to the hospital wing and back at Harry, and then sat on the floor beside him. When Harry raised an eyebrow at her, she merely smiled and shrugged. "It's more fun to worry with another person. Besides," she said lazily, stretching out her legs and lounging against the wall, "it's a great excuse to miss class."   


* * *   


Although Dumbledore could see many things within the halls of Hogwarts, he was not omniscent. He certainly could not forsee Hermione Granger with Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy in tow ending up at the entrance to his office. 

He watched for a few amusing minutes as Hermione listed off every Honeyduke's candy she could remember, with Harry putting in a few half-hearted suggestions. Finally, Dumbledore had mercy, and he descended the stairs to the entrance. 

The boys backed up a few steps when Dumbeldore stepped out of the rotating phoenix staircase, although Hermione stood her ground. "What can I help you three with, Miss Granger, Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy?" 

Hermione simply stood with her arms crossed, looking between the headmaster and Harry with an expectant look on her face. Harry opened and closed his mouth a few times, but did not speak. Standing behind both of them, Draco seemed to be inching farther and farther away. 

Hermione sighed and looked at Dumbledore. "Headmaster, something very strange is happening. May we speak with you?" 

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Of course, Hermione. Come right in." He turned around and ascended the staircase, the three teenagers following behind him. 

As they entered the office, Hermione and Harry followed the headmaster to his desk, while Draco hung back and stood by the door. He had never been to Albus Dumbledore's office, and he wasn't a fan of the eccentric headmaster. 

When Dumbledore sat at his desk, he saw that Draco was still dawdling by the doorway. "Please, sit down - all of you." He gestured to the two chairs in front of his desk, and with a flick of his wand, a third chair appeared. Draco began walking very slowly towards the chairs as Harry and Hermione sat down. 

"To what do I owe the honors?" Dumbledore asked, clasping his hands in front of him. "And Harry, where are your glasses?" 

"In the library." Harry snuck a glare at Hermione, who shifted in her seat. Harry had complained about not being able to see all the way to Dumbledore's office, but Hermione refused to let them turn around. 

Draco sat, glaring at Harry, then gave him a swift kick in the shin. Harry glared back before turning his head to Dumbledore, then to Hermione. "You're the one who wanted us to come here, 'Mione," he said softly. 

Hermione sighed. "Headmaster, I've just been observing, but from what I've seen, Malfoy and Harry have been acting very strangely." 

Dumbledore nodded, and then turned to peer at Harry and Draco over his half-moon spectacles. "Then perhaps one of you should begin." 

Harry swallowed. He hadn't really wanted to come straight to Dumbledore, but Hermione was right - if anyone would know what was happening to him, it would be Dumbledore. "I'm not sure how to explain it, Headmaster," Harry began. "Malfoy and I… we've been… we've been seeing…" 

"Oh, just spit it out, Potter! You're making it sound like we're having an affair!" Draco snapped. 

Harry's face gained an angry blush before continuing. "We've been seeing very strange things. And we're both experiencing some memory loss." 

Dumbledore's eyes widened. The savior of the wizarding world could not afford to have gaps in his memory, no matter what the cause. "What kinds of things are you two seeing? Start at the beginning, Harry." 

Harry bit his lip, leaning back in his chair. "Yesterday morning, my reflection… it was me, but it wasn't me. He had an evil smile on his face, and he was holding a green towel. I was holding a red towel." He paused, glancing at Draco, who stared back at him with a surprisingly even expression. "Right before Potions, I somehow got lost on my way there. I shouldn't have, because I knew where I was going. I tried to find my way back, and then…" Harry took a deep breath. "I ran into Malfoy. Except it wasn't Malfoy. His hair was longer, and it was loose. He was also nice to me, and he kept calling me 'Harry,' instead of 'Potter.'" 

Dumbledore nodded. "Anything else?" 

Harry sighed. "Right after Potions, I started walking to Divination with Ron. Then, all of a sudden, I'm in the library, and Malfoy is in front of me, unconscious. I keep seeing visions of... the person who isn't me in the mirror." 

"Harry..." Hermione began, knowing Harry was leaving something out. Harry turned his gaze towards her, and seeing the pleading look in his eyes, she dropped it. 

The headmaster nodded once more. "And your story, Mr. Malfoy?" 

Draco narrowed his eyes and glared at Dumbledore for a few moments. "The Quidditch cup said something it shouldn't have, Potter was dressed in Slytherin colors, and my reflection was hanging out with Potter." 

Dumbledore blinked at Draco's shortened answers. "I'm afraid I'll need more information than that, Draco." 

Draco's lips curled into a sneer as he restated his story. "I saw the Quidditch cup inscribed with "Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter, co-captains of Slytherin. Yesterday, I got dizzy in the library right after Potions, and somebody helped me to a seat. It was Potter, but he was wearing a Slytherin uniform. I woke up in the infirmary, and when I was leaving, I saw my reflection with Potter, but Potter wasn't anywhere near me. He was only in the mirror." 

Dumbledore repressed a sigh. Why were all the Malfoys difficult? "And what brought you two here tonight?" 

Neither Harry or Draco said anything. 

Dumbledore did sigh now, unclasping his hands and leaning back in his chair. "I've been observing you two for six years, and I know you both well enough to realize that you wouldn't come to me because of a few strange sights." 

Still, the boys said nothing. 

"What happened to convince you to come here?" The two glared at each other, and Draco pointed at Hermione. 

Dumbledore looked at Hermione. "Would you care to tell me, Miss Granger?" 

Hermione glanced at Harry again, and then looked down at her hands folded in her lap. "Last night, Harry disappeared from the common room. I didn't hear him leave or go upstairs, so Ron and I decided to go look for him. When we found him, he was..." 

Draco made a choking sound. "You SAW that, Granger?" 

Hermione glared at Draco, but turned to the headmaster. "I don't think I should say." 

Dumbledore sat back in his chair. This must be a strange situation. It was hard to get a clear picture from any of them, and none of them seemed willing to be completely honest. "Harry?" he asked, figuring he would most likely get it out of Harry than the other two. 

Harry bit his lip, glancing at Draco. "We both had the memory loss last night, at the same time. When we were… aware again, we were together." 

The headmaster peered at the two obviously uncomfortable boys over his spectacles. "Together how?" 

"We… we were…" 

"We were kissing! Bloody hell, Potter! You were the one who agreed to tell Dumbledore in the first place!" Draco stood up, turning, as if to leave. 

"Please sit back down, Draco, if you want to hear my theory." 

Draco glared at Dumbledore, and then collapsed in the chair, somehow still appearing graceful. 

"It's only a theory, mind you." 

"A theory. Great. So let's hear it." 

"Malfoy!" Harry hissed. Malfoy looked at Harry, his glare positively burning. "Just shut up!" 

Dumbledore sat back in his chair again, waiting for the two to calm down. 

"Have either of you heard of alternate dimensions?" 

"Only in Star Trek," Harry muttered. Draco gave him a strange look, and 

Hermione's eyes widened. 

"You watch Star Trek?" she hissed, and giggle rising in her throat. 

"Never mind," he said, sliding down in his chair. 

Dumbledore gave a small smile, and continued. "Supposedly, there are an infinite amount of dimensions, all populated with the same people, places, and things. However, from dimension to dimension, there are very small differences. Every time you make a decision, you create two dimensions. For instance, earlier, I invited you both to sit down. Here, you sat down, however, perhaps there is another dimension where you did not sit down, and you carried on the rest of your life as if you had not sat in that chair." 

"What difference would that make?" Harry asked, confused. 

"It obviously applies to much more important decisions, as well, Potter," Draco snapped. 

"Like what?" 

"Remember your second year, Harry?" Dumbledore continued, ignoring Draco's quip. "You came to me, wondering if the sorting hat had made a mistake. You told me that the hat had wanted to put you in Slytherin." 

"What?!" Hermione exclaimed, her mouth falling open. 

"The hat wanted to put POTTER in Slytherin?" Draco scoffed, looking back at Harry. "You wouldn't have survived a week. That can't possibly be true." 

Harry slid even farther down in the chair. 

"However, it is true, Draco," Dumbledore said. "My exact theory is this: somehow, a dimension where Harry WAS sorted into Slytherin is somehow crossing into this one. Why or how I can't possibly fathom." "Great. So how do we stop it from happening?" 

Dumbledore stared at the two boys for a few moments before answering. "I'm afraid I don't know, Draco. Until I can figure out how it's happening, there's nothing I can do." 

"NOTHING?!" Draco snarled, bursting to his feet, clenching his fists. "I want this fixed NOW! I'd rather not wake up to be kissing HIM again, or worse, with my cock in Potter's ass!" 

Hermione flushed red, and Harry made a strangled sound. "You're DISGUSTING, Malfoy! Why the hell are you thinking about that, anyway?" 

"Screw you, Potter!" 

"No, thanks!" 

"GENTLEMEN!!" Dumbledore's normally quiet voice was suddenly quite stern, and loud. "I will inform the heads of house and the teachers of this situation. I will discuss this with Professors Snape and McGonagall, and if they see fit, I will also inform the prefects of Slytherin and Gryffindor. If anyone sees either of you behaving strangely, I will know immediately." As both boys opened their mouths to voice their last concerns, the headmaster raised a hand. "You two will both go to class now." Hermione moved to stand, but Dumbledore held a hand out. "I'd like you to stay, Miss Granger. There's something unrelated that I'd like to discuss with you." 

Harry and Draco both stood, heading towards the door. They both moved to fit through the doorway at the same time, and they glared at each other for the umpteenth time that day. 

"Get off me, Potter." 

"I'm not on you, Malfoy." 

"I was here first." 

"Screw you, Malfoy." 

"I'd rather not. That's why we came here, you bloody idiot." 

"Would you stop with your disgusting -" 

Dumbledore watched them, amused. "If you two would stop bickering like first years, perhaps your lives would be a bit simpler." He waved his wand, and the doorway widened slightly, letting both boys fall forward ungracefully. Unsurprisingly, the two turned their glares on him as they stood to head down the staircase. 

"And Draco?" Dumbledore called behind them, the usual twinkling in his eyes starting up again. "Try and lighten up." 

As Harry headed down the stairs, Draco glared at the headmaster of Hogwarts, a muscle under his eye beginning to twitch involuntarily. Draco Malfoy most definitely did not like Albus Dumbledore.   


* * *   


"No, Mr. Weasley, you may NOT attend Quidditch practice tonight. I'm releasing you under the condition that you will get some rest!" 

Harry froze when he opened the door to the hospital wing. He had completely forgotten about Quidditch practice. What if he changed during practice? Or worse, what if he changed during the match? 

"The GAME is this Saturday! I can't miss this match, Madame Pomfrey." Ron's voice was growing louder as he became more and more excited. "It's the Slytherin-Gryffindor match! That's always the biggest match of the year!" 

"You won't miss the game, Mr. Weasley." 

"But I can't miss practice!" 

"We'll be fine, Ron," Harry said as he finally entered the hospital wing. "You can miss tonight's practice. You and I will just do some extra warm-ups before the match." 

"But-" 

"That's an order from me, Mr. Weasley. And your captain." 

Ron was sputtering. "Harry didn't order me-" 

"I am now." Ron glowered at Harry while another student in a bed nearby was trying to hold in laughter. 

Madame Pomfrey turned to Harry. "Mr. Potter, would you be able to escort Mr. Weasley back to your dorm?" 

"Yes, Madame Pomfrey." 

Ron threw his legs over to the side of the bed, still glaring at Harry. He stood, stumbled, and brushed Harry's offered arm away. "Traitor," he muttered playfully. 

Harry shook his head and grinned. "At least you get out of class tomorrow. No Potions." 

"Yeah, but I have to miss Defense Against the Dark Arts. Carter is the best professor we've had since Lupin." 

"I'll take good notes for you, Ron." 

"Thanks," Ron replied sarcastically. 

As Harry and Ron passed by the mirror at the end of the wing, Harry couldn't help but glance at the reflection. 

There was that blasted twisted version of himself. His reflection hadn't noticed him, and seemed to be talking to someone out of the picture. Harry quickly followed Ron out the door. 

The visions seemed to be getting more frequent... 

Something big was going to happen soon.   


* * *   


_"I can't find a single thing wrong with him, Harry. My only recommendation is for him to get some rest." _

"Will I be okay for the Quidditch match?" Draco asked, sitting up and cracking his neck. 

"You should be fine, Draco. For right now, let Harry and Miss Parkinson take you down to the Slytherin rooms." Madame Pomfrey scribbled something on a piece of paper. "You're excused from the rest of your classes today, and all the classes you have until lunch tomorrow. I expect you to be sleeping during your free time, not rough housing." The nurse handed Harry some sleeping potions and Draco's pass. "I think I can trust you to take care of him, Harry." Madame Pomfrey actually winked at Harry, and she turned away from them with a smile. 

"Come on, Drackey-poo," Pansy said teasingly. "Let's go." 

Draco made a face at Pansy. "Only if you promise to never call me that again." 

"I've made that promise at least a hundred times, and I never keep it." 

"I'll never speak to you again if you call me that." 

"And you've made that promise at least five hundred times," Harry added, holding a hand out to Draco. "You never keep that promise, either." 

"Let me help him, please?" Pansy said playfully, putting Draco's arm over her shoulders. "You always get to be the knight in shining armor." 

Harry laughed. "Fine." He began walking out of the hospital wing, stopping at the very end to turn and wait for them. He grinned, watching Draco lean on Pansy, who was continuously poking him in the stomach. 

"Pansy, help him, don't torture him." 

Pansy looked at Harry to grin at him, when she suddenly froze. "Harry... what kind of mirror is that?" 

Harry turned to look at the mirror, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. To his relief, he only saw himself staring back at him. 

"What did you see, Pansy?" Draco asked quietly, eyes narrowing at the mirror. 

Pansy bit her lip, walking with Draco towards Harry and the mirror. "I saw Harry... but he was wearing glasses. And the idiot Weasel was with him." She quickly wiped the shock of of her face, and smiled weakly. "I was probably imagining things. Never mind." 

Harry's eyes widened, and he clenched his fist. Draco studied Harry's expression as Pansy and he passed by. He stopped Pansy, and stumbled over to Harry to whisper something in his ear. "Don't worry, Harry. I'm sure even if you were in Gryffindor, you would have been able to tell what an ass Weasley was." Harry nodded, and Pansy pulled Draco along again, but Harry didn't move for a few seconds. 

~Weasley. Idiot Gryffindor._~ _

Harry narrowed his eyes, and then turned to follow.   


to be continued... 

* * *

Review Responses: 

Silvrei - Voldemort thinks he's being smart, but he's really being very, very stupid. You'll find out more about what he's up to in the future. I don't have any plans to resort either Harry. Dumbledore kinda knows what's up (as you've found from this chapter), but he doesn't know why or how it's happening. 

Snale - Who says Voldemort is gonna lose? 


	6. Part VI: FLASH

**Doppelganger   
Part VI: FLASH**

By Krystiana   
krissy@zahadum.com 

**Disclaimer**: Don't own. Don't sue. (aka HP and all other characters belong to JKR and whole bunch of other people, blah, blah, blah...) 

**Warnings**: This chapter is pretty much PG, actually. Very tame. 

**Archive**: My site (), FanFiction.net, Noire Sensus (if they should somehow get a hold of this), Schnoogle (eventually). Anywhere else, please e-mail me first. ^_^ 

This story is in no way related to my other HP work in progress, "The Dark." This is just an idea that has been in my brain for a LONG time, and I finally came up with a way for it to happen. I may not continue it, depending on the response I get. The idea will be quite happy with either becoming an actual fic or staying in my brain. In other words, let me know what you think. 

A big whoop-whoop to my beta, Emma Grant. You WILL get that picture I promised - really. (I draw when I get inspiration, otherwise it turns out to be crap.) 

* * *

Two figures stood in front of a mirror. This wasn't a normal mirror by any means. You didn't even have to know the history of it to know it was an unusual object - the eerie glow and the flickers of images told you that much. 

These two figures - one a woman, one... something else, were studying these images. Truthfully, they couldn't see the complete picture, but they had both gathered that what they were seeing was a world not their own. 

"Bellatrix, how long?" 

"Anytime now, my lord."   


* * *   


Harry trudged into the Gryffindor common room, collapsing into the sofa Hermione was sitting on. 

"You look exhausted, Harry," Hermione said, looking up. "Why were you gone so long? Ginny was back from practice an hour and a half ago." 

"I stayed outside and flew around the pitch a bit. And then I practiced with the snitch." Harry let his head fall back on the arm of the sofa, closing his eyes. "I caught the snitch six times in thirty minutes." 

"And you're proud of yourself, I suppose?" Hermione smirked, placing a book mark on the page she was on and closing her book. 

"Not proud," Harry said, scooting down the couch a bit so he could see Hermione, but still lie down. "Just completely worn out." 

Hermione set her book down in her lap and leaned forward. "Can we talk about what's been happening, Harry?" 

Harry shut his eyes once more. "Can't it wait until tomorrow, Hermione?" 

"No. I'm researching tomorrow when I wake up. If you want me to help you, you have to talk to me now." 

Harry sat up, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine. What do you want to know?" 

"What the change is like." Hermione pulled out some parchment and a quill. "I saw it happen, but I need to hear from you what it actually feels like." 

"It feels like nothing. I'm just in one spot, and then I'm in another." 

Hermione blinked. "You don't feel anything at all?" She scribbled a bit on the parchment. "What about the other things? Did you feel anything when you saw the visions in the mirror? Or what about when you ran into the strange Malfoy?" 

"No. I was just walking, and I found myself in a place in Hogwarts I've never seen before." Harry looked away from Hermione and into the fireplace. 

"And when you suddenly found yourself kissing somebody, what did you do?" 

Harry did not answer and did not look at Hermione. He instead stood up, still staring into the embers. "I don't think that question helps your research at all." He turned away and began walking towards the dormitory stairs. 

Hermione stood as well, his lips pursed. "Harry James Potter!" she hissed. "Come back here!" 

Harry stopped walking, but did not turn around. "Did you tell Ron?" 

"No." 

"Goodnight, Hermione." 

This time, Harry ignored Hermione's calls after him.   


* * *   


Draco was still fuming by morning. His expression alone was enough to catch Pansy's attention, who tried to cheer him up by ruthlessly teasing some third and fourth year Hufflepuffs. However, the only thing that made Draco's face lift was an eagle dropping a small package in front of him. 

He removed the letter attached to the package, instantly recognizing his mother's handwriting. He quickly opened the letter, an odd smile drawing across his face. 

_Draco, _

May I ask why you've neglected writing to me? Your father may be in Azkaban, but I am still your mother. Seeing as how I'm all alone in the manor, you have even more reason to write to me. 

Draco grimaced. He hadn't realized how much time had passed since he last sent his mother an owl. He skimmed down the letter, picking out the important parts. 

_I'm afraid to say that my efforts to get your father out of Azkaban have not been very successful. I may be a Malfoy, but I don't have anywhere near the amount of influence your father has. If our positions were reversed, I'm sure I would be out by now. I would like you to speak to Professor Snape about this. Severus still has quite a bit of influence with the Ministry. I doubt he'll be able to accomplish anything, but I'm running out of options. _

I need your father home, Draco. The manor is dreadfully boring without him around. 

Draco sighed, folding the letter back up. Professor Snape, while he did have some influence in the ministry because of his research in potions, could never pull any weight to get his father out of Azkaban out of fear of bringing suspicion on him. It looked like his father would be there for a while. 

"Draco?" 

He looked up and across the table at Pansy, who was staring back with concern. Draco merely shook his head, scooped up the package, and left the table.   


* * *   


"Harry!" 

Harry immediately sank down in his chair when he heard Hermione's sharp yell. He had succeeded in avoiding her all day up until now - he'd skipped breakfast and lunch, as well as taken longer routes to classes to avoid seeing her in the hallways. 

She slipped into the seat next to his, slamming her books on the table. "You owe me, Potter." 

Harry stared for a moment before responding. "What?" 

"Even with how uncooperative you were last night, I managed to dig up a very likely cause for your problems." She pulled a book out of her stack and thrust it at Harry. "Never avoid me when I'm trying to do you a favor." 

Harry held the book in his hands, staring down at the cover. "'Morgana's Life, History, and Accomplishments?'" He flipped open the cover and noticed the symbol stamped in the corner. "This is from the restricted section! Hermione, how did you - " 

Dumbledore gave me permission." Hermione cut him off. "Just hurry up and read what I've marked before class starts." 

Harry glanced to the front of the classroom. Professor Carter hadn't arrived yet. He quickly found Hermione's bookmark and opened to those pages. 

_Morgana's Mirror _

This particular creation of Morgana was made when she was only a teenager, yet she already shows potential for great power and ideas with this simply made legend. It has been called many things throughout history, such as 'The Mirror of Wishes,' or 'The Otherworld Mirror.' 

Legend has it that the mirror was created with the purpose of visiting another version of yourself or allowing another version of you come to your world. Morgana, as we learned earlier, came up with the original theory behind alternate dimensions. She thought it you learned of another version of your own history, you would learn more about your faults, weaknesses, and strengths. 

However, it was considered a failed project by Morgana, when she could only see glimpses of other 'dimensions,' and not allow them to crossover into one another. She threw it away, when a scavenger supposedly found it and kept it. Her theory of the actual existence of other dimensions has never proven, but it is widely accepted. Many witches and wizards crave to find this mirror to try and prove her theory true, but the mirror has been very elusive since the year 1398 AD. 

Harry read over the entry a few more times before having to stuff it in his bag when Professor Carter walked in the room. 

"Good afternoon, class." 

Professor Carter was well-liked among all the houses. He rarely took points away from any house, and he always gave generously when he thought points were deserved, but never favoring one house over another. He hadn't attended Hogwarts, so he had no loyalty to any of the houses. 

"Today we'll be discussing a charm that can be used for defensive or offensive purposes. It originates from Japan, based on a very old myth from the 9th century..." 

Harry sank down in his chair again, his thoughts running away from what Carter was saying. Right now, that mirror was the only clue he had. 

He had to tell Ron. Harry wasn't looking forward to that conversation at all. He would have to explain how close he had been to being in Slytherin, and who he had been kissing the other night... 

~_After the Quidditch match. I'll tell him after the game, so it doesn't distract him..._~   


* * *   


Harry and Ron were the first ones to the Gryffindor table for breakfast that morning, both talking around their food in hushed voices about their strategy. Hermione joined them soon enough, sitting across from the two of them. "Good morning, you two." 

"Hi, Hermione." 

"Morning, 'Mione." 

The two went back to their quiet plotting, stealing glances at the Slytherin table to see if any of their Quidditch team had arrived for breakfast yet. 

Harry was chewing his food thoughtfully when he felt a sharp kick to his kneecap from underneath the table. He looked up and saw Hermione glaring at him. Her eyes shifted from him to Ron, who was glaring across the room at the Slytherins. She looked back to Harry, who shook his head. 

"Well, you should." Hermione said loudly, making Ron look at her. She grabbed a scone and stood up. "I'm going to the library," she announced. "Good luck today." 

"You're not going to the game?" Ron asked, his face dropping. 

"Of course I'm going. I'm just going to the library first. I have some extra work to do." She shot a pointed glare at Harry and left. Ron, who was too wrapped up in the thought of the upcoming match, didn't notice Hermione's sharp look. 

Harry sighed and looked down at his plate, pushing the eggs around with his fork. He knew he had to tell Ron, but today was too important to distract him with something that bizarre. He heard the doors to the Great Hall open and shut, but didn't look up until he heard the whispers. 

"Isn't that Professor Lupin?" 

"Who's Lupin?" 

"He was our Defense teacher a few years ago..." 

Harry immediately stood up and turned around. Sure enough, Remus Lupin was walking down the Great Hall. A grin spread over Harry's face and he waved enthusiastically. 

Lupin pulled Harry into a hug. "How are you, Harry?" 

"I've been good." Harry drew away from Lupin, looking at his face. The werewolf looked tired, but cheerful. "How have you been?" 

"Much better than I have been lately. Since Umbridge left her position at the Ministry, the anti-werewolf supporters have died down, as well." 

"That's great." Harry grinned again. "Do you mind if I ask why you're here?" 

"Well, I'm actually assisting Snape for one of your lessons on Monday, but I came a few days early so I could see the match." 

Harry beamed at the thought of Lupin coming to the Quidditch game. "It should be a good game." 

Lupin smiled back. "They always are."   


* * *   


_"Harry, what if it happens during the match?" _

"Then it happens. There's nothing we can do about it." 

"I don't want to lose this match because we're going insane." 

"We're not going insane, Draco." 

"Fine, but I still don't want to lose the match." 

"We won't."   


* * *   


The Snitch was right in between Harry and Draco. Draco spotted it first, but Harry's broom was faster. 

Arms stretched out, pulses racing, the two seekers were flying straight at each other. They grew closer and closer, and just as it appeared that they were going to hit... 

FLASH.   


* * *   


Hermione threw an arm over her eyes when the entire sky suddenly lit up, looking like the world's biggest camera had just taken a picture. 

The glare subsided, and Hermione lowered her arm, waiting for spots she was seeing to fade. 

She looked down at the field, searching for Ron and Harry. Ron was where he was supposed to be, rubbing his eyes, but Harry was on the ground, his red uniform glaring out against the green grass. 

Hermione froze, her eyes widening. 

Beside him lay Draco Malfoy. 

A few feet away from both of them lay two more people, both clad in the Slytherin Quidditch uniform. One of them had a shock of blond hair, the other raised his dark brown head to see what had happened. 

Even from her seat in the stadium, Hermione could see the lightning bolt scar across his forehead.   


_to be continued_

Review Responses: 

**headphone therapy:** Ahh... you caught on to Draco being able to feel the shift, and Harry not. (No one but my beta has mentioned it yet...) You'll find out why soon, I promise. As to your second question, I wasn't really planning on explaining it... I just decided that he shouldn't wear glasses. However, I've just thought of something, so you'll find that out, as well. :) 

**CS WhiteWolf:** What Dumbledore wants with Hermione is related to the Order, but also to the 'problem' that's happening (kinda) - that's all I'll say. 


	7. Part VII: The Landing

**Doppelganger   
Part VII: The Landing**

By Krystiana   
krissy@zahadum.com 

**Disclaimer**: Don't own. Don't sue. (aka HP and all other characters belong to JKR and whole bunch of other people, blah, blah, blah...) 

**Warnings**: This chapter is pretty much PG, actually. Very tame. 

**Archive**: My site (), FanFiction.net, Noire Sensus (if they should somehow get a hold of this), Schnoogle (eventually). Anywhere else, please e-mail me first. ^_^ 

This story is in no way related to my other HP work in progress, "The Dark." This is just an idea that has been in my brain for a LONG time, and I finally came up with a way for it to happen. I may not continue it, depending on the response I get. The idea will be quite happy with either becoming an actual fic or staying in my brain. In other words, let me know what you think. 

This chapter was a nightmare, and ze great beta, Emma Grant turned it all around for me. It's really, really appreciated. She's helping me keep my thoughts straight. O.o 

* * *

_Harry reached out for the snitch as Draco was about to score another goal. Harry knew he could keep his eyes on the snitch, and Ginny Weasley could not keep up with him. Harry was delaying catching the snitch so the score would be higher. Just wait a few more seconds… _

"Slytherin scores!" 

Harry stretched his arm out just a bit further to close his fingers around the tiny golden ball… 

"HARRY!" 

His vision went white, and a sound of rushing water filled his ears. Harry felt as if he was floating down the middle of a waterfall, and he flooded with panic. 

He opened his mouth to yell Draco's name, but no sound came out. 

Quite suddenly, he landed. It wasn't a harsh landing, just shocking. 

Harry stared straight ahead for a few seconds, waiting for his vision to clear. A blue sky and a few clouds began fading in, and he sat up. 

Lying right across from him was… himself. 

That blasted Gryffindor reflection of his, who was telling him that his life was wrong… 

His eyes narrowed, and he stood up, grasping his broom in one hand. He slowly began walking towards that twin of his on the ground… 

With a quick twisting of his wrist, his wand fell out of his sleeve and into his right hand. Standing over his double, he pointed his wand at his forehead, staring down at him with burning eyes.   


* * *   


Shadows filled the room, only odd angles of light seen here and there. Bellatrix entered and knelt at her master's feet. "My Dark Lord," Bellatrix began, only to be immediately cut off. 

"It's happened, Bellatrix. He's here." 

"That's excellent, my lord." 

"I have a new task for you." 

"Yes, my lord?" 

"Wait a few days time, and then send him this package." 

Bellatrix was almost speechless, as a small bundle was handed to her. This wasn't like the Dark Lord, giving her something so simple and small to carry out… "Is that all, my Lord?" 

A smirk flashed in the darkness. "For now, Bellatrix. I will tell you the next step when the time comes." 

Bellatrix bowed low once again, and left.   


* * *   


Harry opened his eyes to find a wand pointed directly at his head. He sat up, and followed the arm of the wand up to the bearer. 

It was himself. 

Ron watched in horror as Harry's double shot a spell at the real Harry. Ron didn't hear the incantation, but the iradescent blue glow was only something he'd seen when someone cast Dark magic. The spell was flying towards Harry's head… 

Ron show off like a bullet, learning as far forward on his broomstick as he could. The spell was about to hit… he wouldn't make it on time… 

"NO!" Ron shouted as the spell passed through Harry. 

The 'new' Harry froze, his eyes widening. "What?!" he exclaimed, his grip tightening on his wand. 

He felt a sudden rush of air around him, and a Weasley abruptly fell **through** his stomach. He clenched his teeth and aimed his wand at Ron, who was getting to his feet. 

"Specico!" Again, a dark spell flew from the end of his wand. It flew through Ron, who had closed his eyes. "Damn it!" 

Ron stood. "Your spells don't work," he hissed. He swung his broom around him like a baseball bat, hoping to hit this twin of Harry's on the head. 

To his surprise, his broom didn't connect with anything. He watched as the broom went through his opponent's head, falling to the ground once more with the force of his empty swing. 

"Who are you?" The new Harry sharply turned his head back to his twin. 

"Who are YOU?" 

"I'm… I'm Harry." 

"No, you're NOT!" One Harry moved to tackle the other when one more person dressed in green entered the fray - an exact twin to the Draco Malfoy that Ron and Harry knew. 

The new Draco wrapped his hand around Harry's, urging him to lower his arm. Harry stopped moving, looking over to Draco with wild eyes. "Why isn't anything working?" Harry whispered. 

"I don't know, Harry," Draco said, forcing Harry to loose his grip on his wand. "But if you keep trying, it still won't work." He finally clasped Harry's hand around the wand. 

Madame Hooch had flown down to where the five boys were staring at one another. She gaped at the two doubles dressed in green. "What's going on here?" she demanded. 

A voice well-known to Ron and Harry answered Madame Hooch. "Who the hell knows?" Harry turned and felt a small surge of relief when he saw the Malfoy familiar to him approaching the group. 

The hush that had fallen over the crowd was being broken as more and more whispers got shot back and forth. 

"Who are they?" 

"WHAT are they?" 

"Are they holding hands?" 

_"…Slytherin?"_

The two Harrys were staring at each other, their red and green Quidditch uniforms standing in stark contrast. Draco, releasing the hand of the Harry dressed in green, walked up to the Harry dressed in red. 

"I'm assuming your name is Harry Potter?" he asked. 

Harry found himself not being able to do anything but nod. "I'm Draco Malfoy," the blonde said, sticking out a hand. "Nice to meet you." 

Harry looked down at the offered hand. He blinked at the hand, suddenly finding himself unable to move. 

"You can't trust him, Harry!" Ron hissed, clenching his broom and his teeth. "His 'friend' used Dark Magic!" 

"I'm just introducing myself, Weasel," Draco said, his hand still held out. 

Harry bit his lip. "Nice to... meet you." He reached out to shake Draco's hand, but found his own hand going straight through the other's. Both boys looked down in surprise. Draco opened his mouth to comment, but was cut off. 

"Harry! That's Malfoy!" Ron said, his eyes wide. "Well, maybe it's Malfoy, but it's still a Slytherin!" 

"You're exactly the same, Weasel." Ron jerked his gaze over to the other Harry, startled at hearing the same venom Malfoy would use in Harry's voice. 

"Gentlemen." 

The five boys turned to see Dumbledore approaching. The new Draco immediately went back to his Harry's side and grasped his hand once more. 

"Perhaps this would be better sorted out in my office?" 

"So you know how this happened?" The green-clad Harry practically spat out his words. His Draco shot a warning look at him. 

Dumbledore merely gave them all a small smile. "You four, come to my office. Follow me." 

Harry turned to Ron as the other three followed behind, the Malfoy familiar to them the most reluctant. "Talk to Hermione," Harry said. "See what she knows." 

Ron smiled weakly. "Give me the full story when you get back in." Harry gave Ron an even weaker smile as he turned, but Ron suddenly put a hand on his arm. "Harry!" Ron lifted up Harry's arm. "Good game." 

There, clasped in Harry's hand, was the snitch. 

Harry blinked. He didn't remember catching it, and he certainly hadn't realized he had been holding it. 

Madame Hooch fell out of her stupor. "Gryffindor wins!" she cried. 

A few angry shouts arose from the Slytherin section, but the crowd was mostly quiet as Harry handed her the snitch and he ran to catch up with the others.   


* * *   


Narcissa Malfoy looked up from the book she was reading. A house elf had appeared in front of her. "Yes?" 

"There is a visitor here, Mistress." 

"Show them in here, please." 

"Yes, Mistress." 

Narcissa closed her book and stood to replace it on the bookshelf. She honestly had no idea who the visitor could be; she'd had so few guests since Lucius went to Azkaban… 

"Narcissa…" 

She turned, and saw a face she had not seen in years… her sister. "Bellatrix!" she exclaimed, her face lighting up. Narcissa moved to her sister, and the two hugged. "I'm surprised you risked a visit to the manor - there are ministry officials looking for you. They've already stopped by asking if I'd seen you!" 

"That's why I waited such a long time," Bellatrix said, drawing away from her younger sister. "And I knew you'd be lonely, with Draco at Hogwarts and poor Lucius being locked up…" 

Narcissa smiled. "Yes, it has been very quiet around here. House elves are not the most interesting conversationalists." 

Her sister laughed. "That's definitely true." The two sat on the sofa, making small talk. 

"How is Draco doing?" 

"He's not the top of his class, but he's up there. He's been tutoring the first and third years in potions." 

"Well, Severus is an excellent professor." 

"True. He's also the seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch team. They had a match today… I wonder how it went?" 

Bellatrix nodded. "I'm sure it went well. Draco was always good on a broom." 

"Have you heard from Sirius?" 

Bellatrix's smiled dropped. "He's dead, Narcissa. He never came over to our side, as we thought. That little rat, Peter Pettigrew, framed him all those years ago. I thought Lucius would have told you. He's known for two years." 

Narcissa's mouth fell open. "Lucius never said a word. He rarely tells me his 'business' stories - I didn't even know you had escaped until it hit the Daily Prophet." She shook her head. "So Sirius spent thirteen years in Azkaban for something he didn't do? That's horrid!" 

"Yes. Even though he didn't agree with us, he was still family…" 

"I always appreciated his sense of humor. How did he die?" 

Taking in a sharp breath, Bellatrix bit her lip before answering. "He was killed in the same battle that Lucius was captured at." 

"Oh, my." Narcissa shook her head. "It's such a shame that conflicting beliefs have to divide our family so horribly. He was one of my favorite cousins, even if he didn't behave like a Black." 

The two sisters were silent for a few minutes before Bellatrix finally spoke up again. 

"Would you like to get Lucius out of Azkaban?"   


* * *   


Four chairs. Four boys. 

Two faces. 

Even Dumbledore had to admit it was a strange sight. Even identical twins had minor differences he could pick out, but these two sets of doubles could only be told apart by their clothes, in the two Harrys' cases, and their hair with the two Dracos. 

The four boys were now sitting in a line in front of his desk, each wearing a very different expression. The Draco Malfoy he knew had an annoyed look, while his twin's face appeared very flat and neutral. Harry Potter, on the other hand, was sitting on the end of the row of boys, looking a bit sick. The green clad Harry was glaring at Dumbledore, waiting for him to speak. 

The headmaster folded his hands on top of his desk. "This is quite an unusual situation." 

"Stating the obvious," Harry muttered, still glaring. "Do you know how it happened?" 

"Unfortunately, I have no answers at the moment," Dumbledore replied. 

"Are you going to **get** answers?" 

"I will use all my resources to figure this out," Dumbledore assured Harry. "However, something like this has never happened before. What I suggest we discuss now is how we handle this in the meantime." 

"What do you mean, 'in the meantime?'" Draco, the 'new' one, asked, brushing a stray strand of hair out of his eyes. 

"Unless I'm gravely mistaken, you two are still attending school. I would not have you miss out of an education simply because you aren't at YOUR Hogwarts." 

None of the boys said a word. 

"There's a few matters of confusion that we should clear up, for the students as well as the professors. We can't have two Harry Potters and two Draco Malfoys -" 

"You already do," the more familiar Draco snapped. 

"What I mean is perhaps we should refer to our two 'visitors' by something slightly different." 

"Like what? I'm not changing my name," the green-clad Harry said. 

"There's no need for that. Would you mind temporarily using your middle name in addition to 'Harry?' You could simply be known at 'Harry James.'" 

"Sounds stupid, but that's fine." 

"And you will be known as 'Draco Lucius.'" Dumbledore said to Draco. 

"Fine." 

"Now, I would like you all to go to the hospital wing to be checked over. I'm not sure what effect this could have on you, since we're not sure how it happened. Don't let Madame Pomfrey keep you too long, though - dinner will be served soon." 

The other four moved to get up, but Harry James stayed in his chair. "What about schedules? Sleeping arrangements? Culture shock?" 

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling just a bit. Harry James rolled his eyes. "I'm about to speak to Professor Snape about all of those things. For now, hurry to the hospital wing so you don't miss the feast." 

"And what about us not being able to touch anything?" Harry James demonstrated by cutting his hand through the air, going through Harry's leg. "What if we can't eat?" 

Dumbledore reached forward and picked up a small container, pulling off the lid. "Lemon drop?" 

Harry James shot Dumbledore his most vicious glare yet, but picked one up and put it in his mouth. 

"If you can eat lemon drops, you can eat anything. Now that's interesting..." Dumbledore leaned back in his chair a bit, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "Your... ability to come in contact with objects, but not people, is quite interesting. That may be a clue to what's happened." He looked at the boys again. "If you come across any other strange... symptoms, inform me at once." The boys turned to leave again. 

"You do realize that Voldemort is behind this, don't you?" The other three boys froze, and turned back around. 

"Harry…" Draco Lucius murmured, a warning tone in his voice. 

"I do have a feeling that he is. However, we don't know how or why he's done this, if it is indeed Voldemort. You are dismissed." Harry James opened his mouth one more time, but the headmaster cut him off. "That's an order." 

The boy glared at the headmaster, his eyes challenging, until Draco Lucius tugged on his arm. Finally, he stood, turning sharply to leave.   


* * *   


Narcissa closed the door, excitement bubbling in her stomach. 

She had missed her husband so much, and Bellatrix was going to see to it that he escaped. Sirius had done it, Bellatrix herself has done it… and if those two could escape from Azkaban, there was no way Lucius Malfoy would be able to be held. 

Lucius would be back. He would be in her arms once again.   


_To be continued…_


	8. Part VIII: Chained

**Doppelganger   
Part VIII: Chained**

By Krystiana   
insanebunny@peoplepc.com 

**Disclaimer**: Don't own. Don't sue. (aka HP and all other characters belong to JKR and whole bunch of other people, blah, blah, blah...) 

**Warnings**: None for this chapter. Slash, of the H/D nature. You should probably also read the previous chapters before tackling this one, or else you'll be MAJORLY confused. 

**Archive**: My site (), FanFiction.net, Noire Sensus (if they should somehow get a hold of this), Schnoogle (eventually). Anywhere else, please e-mail me first. ^_^ 

This story is in no way related to my other HP work in progress, "The Dark." This is just an idea that has been in my brain for a LONG time, and I finally came up with a way for it to happen. I may not continue it, depending on the response I get. The idea will be quite happy with either becoming an actual fic or staying in my brain. In other words, let me know what you think. 

This one took a while, and I apologize. However, there wasn't much I could do about it - RL issues, you know the story. And I bet no one reads this part anyway, so it doesn't really matter. 

* * *

The four boys had barely left Dumbledore's office when Draco exploded. 

"POTTER!!" He spun around on his heel and glared at Harry, clenching and unclenching his fists. The only time Harry had seen him this angry was when the Slytherin had threatened revenge at the end of their fifth year. "How the hell did I get dragged into one of your messes?" 

Harry narrowed his eyes. "Malfoy, shut up." 

"No." Draco's voice was laced with more venom than usual, and he was actually baring his teeth at his rival. "You arrogant, stupid, moronic GRYFFINDOR! I want nothing to do with this!" 

"Screaming at me isn't going to help, Malfoy," Harry hissed back. "You think I'm happy about this? I'm surrounded by Slytherins!" Malfoy tilted his head towards their doubles, who had stopped walking and were watching the confrontation. "They're the ones who have been ripped into a different world, and all you're doing is whining about Slytherins!" He sneered, leaning towards Harry. "This entire idiotic situation is YOUR fault." 

"Actually, it's Voldemort's fault." Harry James spoke up, crossing his arms. "And if you want a reason as to why this involves you, too, it probably has something to do with me and Draco... Lu..." Harry James paused, looking at his lover. "My Draco." 

"So it really has very little to do with Harry." Draco Lucius spoke in a quiet voice, very contrary to the one Draco himself was using. 

"You don't even know for sure that this is the Dark Lord's doing," Draco said. "Even if it IS, the Dark Lord would never have pulled this - whatever the hell THIS is - if he didn't have a vendetta against Potter," Draco snapped. 

"That's wonderful, Malfoy," Harry said, walking forward again. "Hate me for my existence. You always have, anyway." They walked in silence once more, only to have it broken again. 

"I wonder why we can't we touch anything," Draco Lucius said absently, as if he didn't expect anyone to respond. "Why doesn't our magic work here?" 

Harry James reached out and grabbed Draco Lucius's hand. It was solid, and their fingers intertwined. Draco Lucius gave his lover a small smile, squeezing his hand. 

Draco was watching them through narrowed eyes. "Are you two a... 'thing?'" he asked. 

Harry James glanced at Draco. "If you want to call it a 'thing,' then yes." He smirked. "Does that disturb you?" 

"Only because it's Potter," Draco said. "But 'Draco Lucius,' what DOES your father think?" 

"My father really doesn't have much to say about it, considering he's dead," was Draco Lucius's short reply. 

"Oh... sorry." 

"Don't be." 

Draco sniffed, shoving his hands in his pockets, looking away from his double. "Since you two are here, I suppose that means we won't be turning into you anymore?" 

"And no more crazy mirror tricks?" Harry added softly. 

"Hope not," Harry James said. "But what do you mean 'turning into us?'" 

"Remember when I told you about running into 'you,' and 'you' told me to 'shove off?'" Draco Lucius asked. 

"Yes." Harry James glared at his double. "That's not very nice at all." 

"I thought it was Malfoy!" Harry protested. 

"Why don't you apologize, then?" 

Harry stared at his double in confusion, but finally just shook his head and looked at Draco Lucius. "I'm sorry for mistaking you for Malfoy... er... the Malfoy I know." 

"It's all right," Draco Lucius replied, glancing back and forth between Harry and Draco. "But is that how you two seriously treat each other?" 

"Since day one, yes," Draco said. 

"Doesn't it ever get old?" 

"It's not like hating Malfoy is a daily routine," Harry said. "I usually try to avoid him." 

"Baiting Potter is fun," Draco said, smirking. "It's great to see his face when someone actually dares to tell him the truth." 

"And what is the truth?" Harry James asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"He's an egotisitcal brat who thinks his little scar makes him better than everyone else." 

"Don't assume anything about me, Malfoy," Harry said, surprised by the harshness in his own voice. He quickened his pace and walked ahead of the others. 

Harry James stared at his double's retreating back. "You have a twisted version of the truth, Draco." 

Draco glared at Harry James and was about to respond, but his double stepped in between the two of them 

"Well, Dumbledore told us to view this as an educational experience, and I am," Draco Lucius said. "We get to see what Harry and I would have been like had we not had six years to rub off on each other." 

"How is that educational?" Draco sneered. 

"It's making me appreciate my life even more," Draco Lucius replied, gripping Harry James's hand. "I'm just going to say that I'm glad I'm not you." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco snapped. 

"Look at yourself," Harry James said. "You act exactly like my Draco did in our first year." 

"You haven't grown or changed at all," Draco Lucius said. "I've figured out who I am. You still sound like you're trying to be Lucius Malfoy." 

Draco's stare turned icy. "I'm not the only one making assumptions about people." He pushed past Draco Lucius and Harry James, walking ahead of them behind Harry. 

Draco Lucius gave Harry James a small smile. "He's not beyond hope." 

* * * 

"Bellatrix." 

"Yes, my lord?" 

"I understand you have plans to get Lucius out of Azkaban. May I ask why?" 

"I can't bear to see my dear sister in pain, my lord." 

"Ah." A laugh. "Then do it quickly, Bellatrix." 

"Yes, my lord." 

* * * 

Harry practically fell into his seat at the Gryffindor table, and was immediately bombarded by questions. 

"Who are they, Harry?" 

"WHAT are they?" 

"They're ghosts, right? Shapeshifters?" That one was Seamus. 

Harry simply shook his head and looked across the table at Hermione, who looked back with concern. 

"How was the meeting with Dumbledore?" she asked. 

"That went relatively okay," Harry said, folding his arms on the table and putting his head down. "Forcing us to all go to the hospital wing together was a bad idea, though." 

"Why? What happened? 

"Nothing terrible. It was just... weird, and frustrating," Harry glanced up before burying his head in his arms again. "It was like being with three Malfoys." 

"Well, they're all Slytherins, so what do you expect?" Ron's voice was harsh and a bit bitter. Harry knew why - he hadn't told Ron what was going on. Hermione had most likely filled him in. He prayed she hadn't told Ron who he had been kissing. 

"But where did they come from, Harry?" Neville was asking from a few seats down. 

Harry's answer was muffled because his face was still buried. "Another dimension." 

"What's that mean, though?" Colin asked. 

Harry gave a small growl and lifted his head up. "I don't KNOW," he snapped. "I don't really feel like talking about it right now." 

"But-" Colin cut himself off at the look on Harry's face. 

The Gryffindors got the idea, and turned away from Harry, but did not cease talking about their mysterious visitors among themselves. Hermione, Ron, and Harry stared at each other in silence for a few moments, before Ron and Hermione suddenly spoke up at the same time. 

"Why is he in Slytherin?" 

"Will you be all right?" 

Harry didn't even blink at them, still staring. "I don't want to talk about it right now." 

"Not even to us?" Ron asked. 

"Not even to me. I don't want to THINK about it. It's too confusing, especially since we don't have a clue as to how it happened." Harry looked away from his friends, and looked up at the head table. Dumbledore was conspicuously missing, as was Snape. 

"Look! They just came in!!" Harry visibly winced at Lavender's exclamation. He let his gaze move towards the hall's doors, and spotted the doubles. 

~_It's quite bizarre to watch yourself enter a room,_~ Harry thought absently. 

"He's quite good looking without glasses," Harry heard Parvati whisper to Lavender. Harry closed his eyes, wishing he hadn't come to dinner at all. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to block out the conversation around him. 

"Harry, are they-" 

"I DON'T KNOW!" Harry yelled, snapping his eyes open. "I don't know ANYTHING, okay?" He stood up and stalked out of the hall. 

* * * 

The other Slytherins didn't bother questioning Draco about the situation, although it didn't stop them from sneaking curious looks at him. He wasn't doing anything interesting aside from glaring down the table at his doubles, although he did look away from them and suppress a smirk as Potter stormed out of the hall. 

Harry James and Draco Lucius had taken a seat on the very end of the table. Their heads were close together, whispering to each other. Neither of them were eating, and none of the Slytherins had dared to approach them. Draco was looking at them through narrowed eyes when he abruptly stood up and walked down the length of the table, sitting down in front of the two of them. They looked up, surprise evident in both their eyes. 

"You told me father was dead in your world," Draco said. "How did he die?" 

Draco Lucius stared back at his double. "You really want to know?" 

"Yes, I do. I'd like to be able to prevent it if it ever happens here." 

Draco Lucius raised an eyebrow. "Both of my parents were killed by Voldemort." 

Draco froze. "What?" His double simply looked at him. "How is that possible? My father is loyal." 

"Yes, but Voldemort thought that MY father had done something horrible to Bellatrix, who is Voldemort's favorite. My mother tried to save father, and both of them ended up dead." 

"You speak quite easily about your parents' deaths," Draco said, his upper lip curling back. 

"It's... not quite as fresh anymore. It was two years ago." A small smile spead over Draco Lucius's lips. "Besides, the bastard who killed them is dead now." 

Draco blinked. "But... the Dark Lord was brought back only two years ago. And Bellatrix escaped last year." Draco Lucius shook his head. "Bellatrix escaped the summer after our fourth year. My parents were killed only a week after that." 

"Did you ever find out what your father supposedly did to Bellatrix?" 

"No." 

Draco sat back, digesting the information. He then noticed that Harry James, who had been silent during their conversation, was slightly pale and gripping Draco Lucius's arm. He was about to open his mouth to say something about it when a shadow fell over them. 

"I need you two in my office to arrange your schedules and sleeping arrangements." Professor Snape had a cross look on his face. "You may bring your food with you." He turned around and left. 

"He's awfully grumpy," Harry James commented as he moved to stand. 

"He's always like that," Draco replied. "You're probably against the Dark Lord if he killed your parents, so be careful around Professor Snape. He's loyal to him." 

Draco Lucius stared at his twin for a moment before slowly nodding his head. He turned back to Harry James. "Let's go, then." They left the Slytherin table, leaving their food behind. 

* * * 

The Gryffindor common room was rarely empty, but it was when Harry entered. He decided to use the supper hour to his advantage and use the time to reflect on his day. His mind was racing with a million questions, and he needed to put them in some sort of order. 

Harry sat down in the chair in front of the fire, letting out a weary sigh. He attempted to sort his thoughts into something he could deal with, but as he stared into the flames, he felt strangely blank. 

"Useless," he spat. He pushed himself off of the chair and stalked upstairs. He fell into his bed with his Quidditch robes still on and the sun still visible on the horizon. 

* * * 

"Here are your schedules. Let me know if they conflict in some way." Snape passed the schedules across his desk. "It's quite a nuisance to input two new students halfway through the year." 

Neither of the boys responded as they took their schedules and glanced over them. To their surprise, they had gotten to keep all of their old classes that they had been taking in their world - only the times had been moved. Most of their classes were, of course, with the Slytherins. 

"As for sleeping arrangements, there is not enough room with the rest of the sixth years for both of you. Harry James will be staying with the sixth years, and Draco Lucius will be staying with the fifth -" 

"We need to stay together," Harry James interrupted. 

Snape shot him a dangerous glare. "And why is that?" 

"We just do," Draco Lucius said softly. 

"And where do you suggest I put you?" Snape's voice was venomous. 

The two boys glanced at each other before Draco Lucius turned his head back to Snape. "We stay in the Eight Room in our world." 

Snape's eyes widened. They could practically hear his teeth grinding. "You expect me to treat you two to a room reserved for Slytherin Head Boys?" 

"Is the head boy a Slytherin here?" Draco Lucius said. 

"No." 

"Then we could stay there -" 

"Why do you two deserve such treatment?" 

"Then stick us both with the fifth years," Harry James said impatiently. 

Snape glared at Harry James, not bothering to hide his contempt that he held for every Potter. "Why can't you be separated?" 

Harry James was about to jump up from his chair when Draco Lucius reached out and put a hand on his arm. "Harry." Harry James paused and looked over at Draco Lucius, who was shaking his head. 

"Well?" The two moved their eyes back to Snape. 

Draco Lucius took a deep breath. "We're chained." 

Snape stared at them for a moment before slamming his fists on his desk and standing up. "I've had enough of your LIES. No one here can tell for sure if you really are who you say you are, especially since no one can lay a FINGER on you." He leaned over his desk, practically hissing his words out. "I can tell now, that you are both LIES yourselves. A Potter and a Malfoy would not be chained - not to mention NO ONE has been chained for over four hundred years!" 

"We know that. We're the first in four hundred and twelve years." 

Snape's eyes flashed, but he took a deep breath and slowly sat back down, staring at a spot on his desk through narrowed eyes. 

"People can only be chained if they are connected in the first place." His eyes trailed back up to the two boys in front of him. "And you two had that connection. Why is that?" 

Harry James blinked, his expression melting into confusion. "You can't... ask someone 'why' they're in love with someone else." He shook his head, falling back into his own chair. "There's no one reason that you can possibly put into words." His eyes drifted over to the blonde sitting next to him, who was looking back at him with smiling eyes. 

Snape was silent for a solid minute. He leaned back in his chair, studying the two of them. "You may have the Eight Room. I'll tell the house elves to clean it up a bit - it's been several years since the room has been used." The two boys seemed to give a silent sigh of relief. 

"Meanwhile, go get your brooms. They're still on the pitch. No one could bring them in since no one could touch them." 

They stood to leave when Snape motioned for them to sit back down. He leaned over his desk, his upper lip curling back. "Do not think this means that I trust you. I will be watching you two very carefully." He sat back, his eyes narrowing at them again. "Now get out of my office." 

* * * 

Draco had been trying to get some sleep for well over an hour now, but he kept tossing and turning, kicking his blankets and rearranging them. When he had finally managed to kick every single cover he had completely off his bed, he laid flat on his back, staring up at the canopy. 

In his mind's eye, he kept seeing his twin and Potter's twin sneaking knowing glances at each other. He saw their eyes express their feelings for the other, their hands intertwining. He saw himself smiling brightly - something he hadn't done since he was a small child. 

His twin's hair kept shortening and slicking itself back, and glasses kept appearing on Potter's twin... 

Draco closed his eyes as tight as he could, pressing his palms against his eye lids, trying desperately to get the images out of his head. When he began seeing bright stars in the pitch black, he dropped his hands behind his head and opened his eyes. 

Memories of the tail-end of a kiss were floating into his mind, now. He and Potter woke up to their twins' passion, felt it as it as they became aware of themselves again. It was someone else's love he had felt in that kiss. 

Draco quickly sat up, breathing heavily. His voice came out in a whisper. 

"Fuck." 

* * * 

Draco Lucius opened the door to the Eight Room, giving it a quick survey. A few pieces of furniture were in different places than they were in their world, but the room was otherwise exactly the same. 

Harry James walked in behind him and took in a sharp breath. 

"What's wrong?" Draco Lucius asked, quickly lighting a blaze in the fireplace. 

"It's exactly the same," Harry James's voice was barely audible. 

"It's arranged a bit differently." 

"When I... first saw the room, this is what it looked like. When I was waiting for you to..." He paused, taking in a deep breath. "I cleaned the room with Dobby and rearranged it to the way it is now." Harry James peered around the room. "It's the same. Why is it exactly the same?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"I know that this world and our world are similar, but to the extent of this chair being in the exact same place?" Harry James moved a chair by the fireplace to the side, revealing a large burn mark in the wooden floor underneath it. "Even that burn is still there." 

"Why do you think this is so significant?" Draco Lucius asked, crossing his arms. 

"If this is a really another 'dimension,' like our doubles said Dumbledore thought, then there's infinite possibilities for simple things to be different." He turned and sat in the chair he had just moved. "There has to be more to it than him being in Gryffindor and me being in Slytherin." 

"Harry-" 

"Where do our worlds separate? Why are we different?" 

Draco Lucius knelt in front of his lover, placing a hand on each side of Harry's face and giving him a small kiss on the forehead. "Can we not worry about it right now? This is something familiar, and we're alone right now, for the first time since we got here." Harry James smiled back at the boy in front of him, leaning forward and capturing his lips in a kiss. It was a long overdue and very much needed kiss - that much was evident as Draco Lucius pulled Harry James onto the floor beside him. 

* * * 

Harry sat up in his bed with a small shout, blinking sleep away from his eyes, the last remnants of his dream falling away from him. 

"Hey, Harry! Who were you dreaming about, huh?" 

Harry jerked his head over to his right, throwing the curtains of his bed open to see Seamus getting dressed. Seamus was smirking so hard that it should have hurt his face. "Whoever was in your dream sure was lucky!" 

"Why?" Harry asked, gaping at Seamus. 

"You were moaning so loudly you woke all of us up." 

Harry flushed bright red and disappeared behind his curtains again, hearing Seamus and Dean laughing loudly. He wouldn't dare tell any of them - even Ron - who he had been dreaming about. 

~_Draco fucking Malfoy._~ 

Harry groaned and threw his covers over his head. 

* * * 

When Draco entered the great hall, he instantly regretted it. 

"Draco! What's wrong? You look like you didn't sleep a wink!" 

Draco glared at Pansy. He hadn't even bothered to put a glamour on the dark circles under his bloodshot eyes. "I didn't sleep," he snapped, pushing past her and sitting down at the Slytherin table. "Stay away from me for the rest of the day." 

Pansy blinked, sitting down beside him. She looked at him, considering opening her mouth to say something, but wisely decided against it. 

Draco was bad enough on four hours of sleep. She couldn't even imagine him running on no sleep at all. 

The Gryffindor table was much calmer and much easier to deal with that morning than it had the night before. Harry was having no trouble at all eating his breakfast since he hadn't eaten dinner. Seamus and Dean were still teasing him about his extremely vocal dream, and even Neville was chipping in a few ludicrous comments. Ron, on the other hand, still looked cross. 

At that moment, Harry did not want to think about his double, who was somewhere in the castle... 

"Harry, why are they -" 

Someone sat down beside him. He looked to his left and noticed a hand on his shoulder, which was quite bizarre since he couldn't feel the hand... 

"We should have a talk." 

Harry stopped chewing and simply stared at the person sitting beside him. Harry was staring at his own face, and it was sending shivers down his back. 

Draco Lucius sat down besides Harry James, earning a gasp from the Gryffindor table. He raised an eyebrow and gave the table a chilling glare. 

Harry chewed his food and forced it down his throat. "What... would you like to talk about?" 

His twin opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by a loud voice further down the table. 

"Why don't you two eat while you're here?" Lavender said, a flashy smile spreading over her face. She stood up and passed them a few plates. 

"Don't mind if I do." Draco Lucius grabbed a slice of the pumpkin bread in front of him and began munching on it thoughtfully. 

Hermione stared at the bread in his hand. "How come you can touch food but not people?" 

Draco Lucius shrugged. "We don't know. Dumbledore said that it was 'intriguing.'" 

"Would you like some bacon?" Parvati offered, leaning over Hermione and giving Draco Lucius a five star smile. 

"No, thanks." 

"Our bacon's not good enough for you?" Ron said softly, a dark tone in his voice. It was the first time he had spoken since Harry had come down for breakfast. 

"Ron, you're being impossible," Hermione said. 

Ron opened his mouth to respond, but shut it again. He settled for crossing his arms and glaring across the table. 

"You two must be hungry, though!" Lavender said. "I insist you eat some bacon - you probably won't get any at the Slytherin table. They're all greedy bastards." 

Draco Lucius narrowed his eyes. "We're Slytherins - don't forget that." He swallowed a bite of bread. "Besides, I don't eat meat." 

"But you should," Harry James muttered, looking cross. 

Hermione's eyes widened at Draco Lucius. "You're a vegetarian?" 

"He's a what? What's wrong with him?" Ron asked. "Is he diseased?" 

"Ron, be quiet." Hermione didn't even look at Ron. 

Draco Lucius looked at Hermione with a level gaze, something that startled Hermione. The Draco Malfoy she knew had never looked at her like that - as an equal. "Yes, I'm a vegetarian." 

"What's that mean?" Lavendar asked. 

"It means what I already said - I don't eat meat." 

"Why not? Does it make you sick?" 

Hermione shook her head at Lavendar. "Vegetarians CHOOSE not to eat meat." She looked back towards Draco Lucius, her eyes full of curiosity. "It's usually because people feel that animals are equals, and not food. It's a very... muggle tradition..." Hermione trailed off, still staring at Draco Lucius. 

Draco Lucius gave Hermione a small smile - a smile, not a smirk. "It's by choice, yes, but meat does make me a bit sick." 

"Really? Do you know why?" 

Draco Lucius's gaze darkened. "Yes." 

"Why?" 

"It's none of your business." Harry James, who had been studying Hermione during the entire conversation, sat up. "No offense," he added as Draco Lucius elbowed him in the side. 

"Maybe I'll tell you another time." Draco Lucius said. 

"Why are you over here, anyway?" Ron asked, trying to make his voice as innocent as possible, especially with Hermione sending him warning glares. 

Harry James smiled and turned back to his twin. "I've come to ask you the million galleon question." 

Harry set his fork down and gave his twin his full attention. "What's that?" 

"Why are you in Gryffindor?" 

_to be continued _

End of chapter note: The next chapter will have many answers to many questions, just so you know. Don't get too wrapped up. :) 

Review Responses: (Sorry for missing the past few chapters)   
Mon2: Yes, Draco Lucius is the rational one... for the most part. ^_~   
Dragenphly: Narcissa doesn't know... Bellatrix didn't tell her. :)   
CS WhiteWolf: I quite like long reviews, actually. And you're close to what's going on... but if you knew me, you would know that I think the books are quite prejudiced against Slytherins. Ambition doesn't equal evil. 


	9. Part IX: It Could All Be Better

**Doppelganger   
Part IX: It Could All Be Better...**

By Krystiana   
insanebunny@peoplepc.com 

**Disclaimer**: Don't own. Don't sue. (aka HP and all other characters belong to JKR and whole bunch of other people, blah, blah, blah...) 

**Warnings**: None for this chapter. Slash, of the H/D nature. You should probably also read the previous chapters before tackling this one, or else you'll be MAJORLY confused. 

**Archive**: My site (), FanFiction.net, Noire Sensus (if they should somehow get a hold of this), Schnoogle (eventually). Anywhere else, please e-mail me first. ^_^ 

EMMA GRANT ROCKS. She beta'd this, and she does such a kick-ass job. She's an even more kick-ass author, so go read her stuff first chance you get. 

* * *

The Gryffindors that were sitting nearby Harry and the two Slytherin visitors were quiet, waiting for an answer. A few tried to make it look like they weren't listening by idly pushing their eggs and bacon around their plates. 

Harry opened and closed his mouth, stared at his double, and then sat back. "I was sorted into Gryffindor." 

"That's pretty much obvious," Harry James responded immediately. "But WHY were you sorted into Gryffindor?" 

"Both of my parents were Gryffindor." 

"So were mine." 

"Despite common belief," Draco Lucius said, staring at his bread, "The hat does not sort people based on their family." He took a bite, not looking at anyone. "Or blood, for that matter." 

"Funny to hear YOU say that," Ron said. "All of the Malfoys have been Slytherins." 

"And all of the Weasleys have been Gryffindors," Harry James said. "But the hat doesn't look at your family history when it sorts you. If looks at who you ARE." 

"And many wizard families raise their children to aspire to a certain house," Draco Lucius continued. "I was raised to be a Slytherin, I am one hundred percent Slytherin, and thus I was sorted into Slytherin." 

Harry James turned back to his double. "So I'm a Slytherin, and you are a Gryffindor. And yet… we're the same person." 

"We're not the same," Harry said quietly. 

"Of course we wouldn't be. For six years, you've had all of Gryffindor's glowing golden light washing over you. I've had six years of trying to prove myself as a Slytherin." 

Harry froze, his eyes widening. 

_And a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting…_

"Why are you so interested, anyway?" Ron asked shortly. 

"And why are YOU so eager to stick your nose where it doesn't belong?" Harry James shot back. 

"He's a Gryffindor," Draco Lucius murmured in his lover's ear. "That's the way they are." 

Harry James narrowed his eyes, glaring across the table at Ron. He was silent for a moment, and then abruptly turned to his double. "_Is it because I've got more snake in me than you do?_" 

A gasp erupted from the Gyrffindor table. Harry's eyebrows rose in confusion. "_What's that supposed to mean?_" Whispers began shooting up and down the table after Harry spoke. 

"Harry!" Ron hissed at him. "Don't DO that!" 

Harry turned away from his double, surprised to see most of the Gyrffindor table staring at them. "Do what?" He glanced back at Harry James, who had an amused smirk on his lips. 

"_Do they react like that every time you speak Parseltongue?_" 

Harry blinked. "_I haven't spoken Parseltongue since my second year._" 

Harry James smirked again. "_Well, you don't sound too out of practice._" He sat back a bit and studied his twin, as if he was looking for something he'd missed before. He ignored the Gryffindors' disapprovals that were growing louder and angrier. 

"Would you two please STOP?" Seamus yelled from down the table. 

Harry James's smile grew even further across his face, while Harry's face grew red and he shrank down a bit in his seat, looking at his twin with a horrified look on his face. 

"_It's a shame that you aren't allowed to be who you are in your own house._" The Gryffindors were actually shouting now, attracting the attention of the other tables. 

Harry narrowed his eyes, sitting up and leaning forward, his eyes darkening. "And it's a shame that you have no right to make that assumption, considering you have no idea who I am." 

Harry James didn't let his smile drop, but he relaxed a bit, studying his twin once again. "There is some Slytherin in you, even with six years of Gryffindor influence." 

Harry leaned even closer to his twin. "You don't know me," he repeated. 

Harry James nodded. "But I think we should get to know each other. I'd like to compare notes - and I want to know what's happened in this world." 

"Why don't you keep your nose in your own world?" Ron spat, standing up. 

Harry James turned a burning stare in Ron's direction. "Because I'm HERE. I'm here in a world where Voldemort is still alive." He stood up, as well, leaning over the table towards Ron. Harry clenched his fists underneath the table, but his face grew white. 

Ron gritted his teeth. "Don't SAY that name." 

Harry James smiled maliciously. "VOLDEMORT is dead and buried in our world. No one is afraid to say the name there." 

Harry lowered his eyes to the table. He had already known this - he'd heard Harry James talk of Voldemort's death before, when he saw them in the mirror. 

Ron was baring his teeth now, looking feral. "You're lying -" 

"GENTLEMEN!" Everyone at the table turned towards the wall to spot Professor McGonagall with her hands on her hips. She glared at Harry James and Draco Lucius with contempt in her eyes. "Mr. Malfoy, Mr… Potter." She took a breath, taking a few steps closer to the table. "May I ask why you are eating at the Gryffindor table this morning?" 

Harry James stepped over the bench, and Draco Lucius looked around Harry James's leg at the professor. Draco Lucius swallowed his last bite of bread before he spoke. "We came over here to speak with Harry." 

Professor McGonagall sniffed, crossing her arms. "Well, I must insist that your return to the Slytherin table. There is a reason each house has their own dining table, and it is a rule you must eat at your house's table." 

Draco Lucius stared at Professor McGonagall. "There's a RULE?" he stood up as well, stepping in front of Harry. "So you're saying that you further encourage house rivalry by segregating them?" 

"It's not segregation-" 

"Hogwarts is supposed to be united," Harry suddenly said, standing up as well. "That's what the sorting hat told us last year." 

The Gryffindors were staring open-mouthed at Harry, but Professor McGonagall clenched her teeth. "Despite the ramblings of an old hat, the rules are still the rules. I must insist that the Slytherins return to their table." 

Draco Lucius gave her a challenging stare, but turned to Harry James. "Let's just go outside," he murmured. "Enjoy the day." 

Harry James nodded, but said, "One second." He turned back to his twin. "Can we talk later? Without the shouting fest?" he asked, gesturing to the Gryffindors. 

Harry bit his lip, but nodded. "Only if Ron and Hermione come, too." 

Harry James flinched, glancing over at Ron. "If you insist." 

Draco Lucius began walking, but leaned towards Harry and whispered at him. "The quidditch pitch, right after supper." Harry nodded silently, and the two Slytherins walked away. Harry watched them until they had left through the main doors. 

"Why are you defending them, Harry?" Ron asked as he and Harry took their seats again. 

"I wasn't defending them," Harry said. "I was stating a fact." He glanced back up towards the main doors, trying to force his thoughts to take a different path. It wasn't working. The fact that Harry James, a Slytherin version of himself, had defeated Voldemort, was weighing heavily on his mind. 

On the other side of the hall, Draco was watching the Gryffindors in amusement. Harry James was definitely a Slytherin - he has easily gotten the entire Gryffindor table riled up over something quite small. 

Pansy, on the other hand, still had her eyes lingering on the door that Harry James and Draco Lucius had left through. "I want to meet them," she said, a smile playing on her lips. 

"You will," Draco said, not looking at her. 

"Mail's here." Draco glanced up at Blaise's statement, and watched a few owls swoop around the hall, dropping packages and letters off. It was Sunday, so the only owls delivering today were ones that were privately owned. He was quite surprised when a package landed in front of him. Draco glanced at it and raised an eyebrow at his mother's handwriting. It wasn't like his mother to send him two packages in such a short amount of time. 

He picked it up, eyes widening when he felt the weight of it. The last package she had sent to him had been light - it had been full of sweets. This package was heavier, and as Draco ran his hands over the packaging paper, he could feel something cold and hard inside. 

"I'm going outside," Draco announced, standing up. Pansy started to respond, but Draco didn't wait to hear it, quickly walking out of the hall. 

* * * 

Bellatrix was wandering aimlessly around the mansion. Since she was an escape convict, she couldn't risk being seen in the wizarding world. This left her very bored during her free time. 

"Bella?" 

Irritated, Bellatrix turned around. "Do not call me 'Bella,' Wormtail," she hissed at the skinny man. Only the Dark Lord had that privilege. 

Peter Pettigrew narrowed his eyes. Even since Bellatrix had brought their Lord the mirror, she had become his favorite. 

Bellatrix tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for Wormtail to response. "What do you want?" she finally snapped. 

"I was just wondering how you found Morgana's mirror," Wormtail said, raising an eyebrow. "It's been missing for hundreds of years." 

"It's been missing because it's been in my family's private collection," Bellatrix said, crossing her arms. "Why do you want to know?" 

"I'm just curious. What gave you the idea?" 

Bellatrix gritted her teeth. "That is between me, the Dark Lord, and the Potter brat." 

"But -" 

"It's NONE of your business," she said, sneering. "I'm going to my quarters." 

Wormtail's eyes flashed, but he didn't dare ask her again. Now that she was Voldemort's 'pet,' she could do whatever she please. He turned to leave, but Bellatrix stopped him. 

"Oh, and could you bring me a fire whiskey?" A smirk was spreading over Bellatrix's face. She didn't really want one, but she loved reminding the other Death Eaters that she was no above them. 

Wormtail's body tightened up in bottled rage, and he reponded though clenched teeth. "Yes, Bellatrix." He spat her name out as if he couldn't stand it being in his mouth. 

Bellatrix turned again, heading towards her room. It wouldn't hurt anything by telling Wormtail where the idea came from, but she didn't want to risk anyone using it again Potter before she had a chance. 

Bellatrix's last encounter with the Potter brat had given her the idea for using the mirror. When she had killed Sirius, his anger took over him. He had wanted her dead, wanted her to hurt - so much that he had actually attempted casting an Unforgivable on her. There was so much potential in that boy, and had he only been in Slytherin… 

If Harry Potter stood by Lord Voldemort's side, the Dark Lord would be unstoppable. 

And now there was a Harry Potter in this world that could do that. He could fight for her Lord, instead of against him. 

Bellatrix's lips spread into a twisted smile. 

* * * 

Draco sat on the grassy hill overlooking the Quidditch pitch, staring at the letter from his mother. He had read and reread the note at least twenty times. It was short, and explained nothing of the mysterious object that was inside the package she had sent him. 

_Draco, _

Tell Professor Snape that you will be coming home next weekend. I will pick you up on Friday after your classes, and you will return Sunday afternoon. Bring the stone with you. 

Draco picked up the stone again and studied it. There didn't seem to be anything unusual or magical about it, but it was small enough to fit in his pocket without being noticed. It was a shiny black, and appeared to be nothing more than ordinary hematite. 

"Busy?" 

Draco looked up to see Harry James and Draco Lucius standing over him. He closed his fist around the stone, folding up the note from his mother. "Not really," he replied. "Good job wreaking havoc on the Gryffindors this morning. What did you do to them, anyway?" 

Harry James raised an eyebrow, sitting down next to Draco. "I didn't rile them up on purpose. I didn't know that having a conversation in Parseltongue would practically create a riot." 

Draco smirked and leaned back, slipping the stone into his pocket. "Gryffindors don't react well to anything having to do with snakes." 

"They don't act like that in our world," Draco Lucius said, sitting down next to Harry James. "The Gryffindors here are all insane." 

Draco nodded. "That's the way they've always been." 

They all turned as they heard someone walking up the hill behind them. Harry appeared on the crest, and he paused when he saw Draco sitting with them. A flush rose in his cheeks, remembering his dreams from the night before. 

"Come sit down!" Harry James called, waving him over. 

Harry shook his head, trying to clear the images of his dreams from his mind, and breached the gap between him and the group. "You didn't tell me Malfoy would be here, too." 

"We didn't expect him to be here," Draco Lucius said. "It doesn't matter, anyway - I'm 'Malfoy,' too." 

Harry sat down next to Draco Lucius, completing the pattern. If anyone had glanced up at the strange group perched on the hill, they would have sworn they were seeing double. 

"You're having a meeting?" Draco said, narrowing his eyes. "I'm leaving." He moved to stand up, but Harry James waved him back down. 

"Stay. We four should bond." Harry James smirked. 

Draco looked over Harry James and Draco Lucius at Harry, glaring. "Thanks, but I'd rather not." 

"Just give it a chance, will you?" Draco Lucius said. "Aren't you tired of the rivalry?" 

"No." 

"Is there anything wrong with making it a friendlier rivalry?" 

"Yes." That answer came from Harry. "I thought we were meeting to figure out the differences in our worlds." 

"We are," Harry James responded. "There's no harm in all four of us just hanging out, is there?" 

"Look," Draco said, standing up. "You two are in love. Potter and I hate each other. We are the OPPOSITE of you two, and that isn't going to change." 

"Love and hate aren't opposites," Draco Lucius said. "They're in the same category." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

"Please, just sit and talk with us for a while," Harry James said. "Do you have anything better to do?" 

Draco stared at the three boys on the ground. Harry James and Draco Lucius were both watching him expectantly, while Harry was staring down at the Quidditch pitch with a lost expression. "Fine," Draco snapped. 

Harry James turned to Harry. "I thought your Gryffindor friends were supposed to come with you," he said. 

"Thank god they didn't," Draco said, sneering. "I would never have stayed if Weasel and the Mudblood were here, too." 

"Don't call her that," Harry snapped, but it lacked his usual conviction. He sighed, but didn't look away from the pitch. "Hermione had to catch up on her homework since she spent most of her free time researching our… problem." 

Harry James raised an eyebrow. "That's nice of her. What about Weasel?" 

"Ron didn't want to come." 

"Ah." 

Draco Lucius smiled and looked to his lover. "So where do you want to start?" 

"The sorting," Harry James replied automatically. He glanced over at his twin, who was still staring at the pitch. "What happened at the sorting?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"What did the sorting hat say to you when you were sorted?" 

"The sorting hat speaks to you?" Draco said with mild surprise. "It didn't say anything to me." 

"Nor me," Draco Lucius responded. "That's because we're both pure Slytherin - there's no question when it comes to our house." 

"What did it say?" Harry James repeated, ignoring the Dracos' quips. 

"It said I could be in Slytherin or Gryffindor. I ended up in Gryffindor." 

Harry James narrowed his eyes. He brought his mind's eye back to when he was eleven years old, and an old hat dropped over his eyes. He repeated what the hat had said to him that day. "'Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either.'" 

Harry finally tore his gaze away from the pitch and looked at his twin in horror. 

"'There's talent, oh my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting… So where shall I put you?'" 

Harry clenched his fists, hearing the sorting hat's words roll off of his double's tongue. It brought him back to that day, and his own response to the hat came to him. 

"Not Slytherin, not Slytherin," he said out loud, his voice haunted. 

"'Not Slytherin, eh?'" Harry James continued. "'Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that…'" 

Harry picked up where Harry James left off, his voice still sounding far away and lost. "'No? Well, if you're sure, better be… Gryffindor.'" 

The two Harrys were staring at each other. "How could it be exactly the same?" Harry whispered. 

"It's not," Harry James answered. "I kept telling the hat 'not Slytherin,' same as you did." 

"Then why did you end up in Slytherin?" 

"'Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that…'" Harry James repeated. "'You don't want to go there, but you really can't tell ME how to do my job. I know what's best for you, and you belong in Slytherin…'" 

Harry stared at his twin with his mouth open, unable to find something to say. He thought he had been close to being in Slytherin before, but now… 

"Dumbledore said that my choice not to be in Slytherin was what made me a Gryffindor," Harry said. "But you tried to make the same choice, and the hat didn't let you…" 

"Don't believe everything Dumbledore says," Harry James said, his voice hardening. "He's an old crock." 

"Do you ever regret it?" 

"Regret being a Slytherin?" Harry James gave a short laugh and put his arm around Draco Lucius. "Never." 

"The sorting's not it, then," Draco Lucius said. "Maybe it goes farther back." 

"You lived with the Dursleys growing up?" Harry James asked. 

"That horrible muggle family…" Draco Lucius added with a biting tone. 

"Yes. I still have to live with them during the summer." 

"WHAT?!" Draco Lucius shouted. "You still have to go back to those disgusting muggles? How can you possibly still be alive?" 

"What about Sirius?" Harry James added. 

Harry's body jerked, snapping his head towards Harry James. The look in his eyes was haunting. "You live with Sirius?" he whispered. 

"Well, I live with Sirius and Remus. They're the heads of the Equal Rights for Werewolves act." 

~_He lives with Sirius, and Sirius is heading some protection act… he's alive._~ Harry put his head between his knees so none of them could see his expression. His voice was very small when he spoke. "He's not a wanted criminal anymore?" 

"No. He was free as soon as we showed Wormtail to Fudge." 

Harry suddenly found himself completely speechless. Everything that had possibly gone wrong that night Wormtail escaped went RIGHT in their world. Sirius was alive, a free man, and Harry James went to live with him and Remus during the holidays. Voldemort was dead because Harry James had apparently killed him already. Harry James also had someone he was deeply in love with. 

"Are you all right, Harry?" Draco Lucius asked, leaning forward. 

"Is everything perfect in your world?" Harry said, lifting his head. His eyes were wild with several emotions, ranging from rage to despair to absolute envy. 

"Perfect?" Harry James asked, his eyes narrowing. "I don't understand. What's happened here?" 

Harry couldn't say anything. It was as if the grief had come back in full force. And with the grief, came the guilt - the guilt that is was HIS fault Sirius was gone… 

"Sirius Black… I think he… died." Draco's voice was oddly soft. 

Mouth opening in horror, Draco Lucius glanced at his twin, and then focused on Harry. "Is that true?" he asked. 

Harry nodded. 

"Sirius is dead in this world?" Harry James said, the realization dawning on him. 

Harry exhaled, having not realized he had been holding his breath. "Yes, Sirius is dead," he said quietly. He fell back, lying on the grass, rubbing his hands on his face. "Why don't you rub it in some more?" 

"We're not rubbing it in, Harry," Draco Lucius said. "Sirius is special to both of us -" 

"Um… Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter?" 

All but Harry turned to see a third year Slytherin standing on the hill a bit behind them. All four of them responded, although with different tones. "Yes?" 

The third year girl couldn't help but giggle. "Um… Draco Lucius and Harry James, I mean?" She laughed again. "Professor Snape wants to see you. He says he needs to show you where you are in your classes." 

"Right now?" Harry James said. 

"That's what he said." She smiled at them, and then walked back down the hill. 

Harry James sighed and looked over at Harry, who was still lying back on the hill, one hand over his eyes. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean bring something like that up-" 

"Don't worry about it," came Harry's muffled reply. "You didn't know." 

"We should… go, Harry," Draco Lucius stood as well, and reached a hand out to Harry James. 

Harry James nodded, taking his lover's hand and squeezing it. He turned back to Harry again. "I want to talk again. Let me know tomorrow when you're free." 

"Right." 

Harry James finally turned, squeezing his lover's hand once more. They took a few steps down the hill, but Draco Lucius reached up and pulled Harry James's lips to his own, leaning into him. They rested their foreheads against the other's, and stayed that way for a few moments. "I needed that," Draco Lucius whispered into Harry James's ear before they broke apart. They continued down the hill, and were quickly out of sight. 

* * * 

"Ron, why are you here?" 

"I told you - I need to finish my Potions essay. I thought you were going to help me, Hermione." 

"Are you angry at Harry?" 

"Yeah. Do you think he's noticed yet?" 

A pause, and then a sigh. "No." 

"Do I have a right to be mad?" 

"Well, yes, but… Harry's going through something very strange right now." 

A short laugh. "Got that right." 

"Is that why you haven't cornered him yet?" 

"Yes. That and the fact that I can never find him." 

"Find him tonight when he gets back. He needs us right now, Ron. Get your anger out and get it over with. 

* * * 

Harry removed his hand from his eyes and stared up into the fading red and yellows of the sky. He didn't even know how he would start processing this and move on. Too much had been dropped on him. 

Their life was better. 

His life could have been better if had only been in Slytherin. 

Movement out of the corner of his eye made him force his gaze to his right. Draco Malfoy sat across from him, staring back at Harry with an unreadable expression. 

Harry had forgotten he was still there. 

"What do you want, Malfoy?" he said, hoping he would just go away. He had too much to deal with at that moment, and he didn't need Malfoy's ruthless taunting and tactless remarks. Harry sat, waiting for Malfoy's jab at his emotions - 

"Who are you, Harry Potter?" 

Harry blinked, staring emotionlessly at Draco. "What?" he asked, not knowing how to react to what the Slytherin was asking him. 

"You said I didn't know you. Well, who are you, really?" 

Harry and Draco's eyes met, and for the first time, there was no anger in either boy. 

_To be continued..._


	10. Part X: Convictions

**Doppelganger   
Part X: Convictions**

By Krystiana   
insanebunny@peoplepc.com 

**Disclaimer**: Don't own. Don't sue. (aka HP and all other characters belong to JKR and whole bunch of other people, blah, blah, blah...) 

**Warnings**: This is slash. If you don't know what that means, don't read this or I'll set you on fire. Unless you're open-minded, have at it. Maybe I'll convert yet another person to the wonders of slash. (WOO BABY.) 

**Archive**: My site (), FanFiction.net, Noire Sensus (if they should somehow get a hold of this), Schnoogle (eventually). Anywhere else, please e-mail me first. ^_^ 

**Thanks**: To Emma Grant, who has been my beta and dealt with my ramblings. She's got no idea how great she is. I'm a lazy bum, and Emma is a goddess. ^_~ 

* * *

The only sound that could be heard on the top of the hill were the birds, making their last conversations before sunset. 

The two boys stared at each other, trying to understand the other's expression. 

"Why do you want to know who I am?" Harry finally broke the silence, his voice quiet and curious. 

"Why?" Draco sat back, leaning on his elbows, looking down at the Quidditch pitch. "Because I'm usually very good at judging what people are like." 

"You mean what you think they're like." 

"You can't argue the fact that I'm right most of the time." 

"You exaggerate the negative, if you're right." 

"I'd like to call it being 'brutally honest.'" Draco moved his gaze back towards Harry. "Anyway, I want to know if I really have been wrong about you." 

Harry sat up now, studying Draco through narrowed eyes. "Don't you already know the answer?" 

"Why would I be asking if I did?" 

Harry sighed, crossing his arms on top of his knees. "Where do you want me to start?" 

* * * 

Harry James was muttering under his breath as he and Draco Lucius walked away from Snape's office. "He treats me like he did in first year." 

"Don't forget that he's been dealing with a very Gryffindor Harry Potter for six years, and he despise the Gryffindors," Draco Lucius said casually. "It doesn't matter, Harry. He'll warm up to you, if we're here long enough." 

Harry James glanced at the boy beside him. "Do you really think we'll be here that long?" 

"Considering we don't even have a clue as to how this happened yet…" Draco Lucius trailed off, looking at the ground. 

"We might never get home." 

Draco Lucius snapped his head up. "We'll get back home, Harry. We just have to figure this out." 

"If it involves Voldemort, then he has to make a move sometime." Harry James narrowed his eyes, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

They both walked in silence before Draco Lucius broke it with a quiet statement. "I can't believe Sirius is dead in this world." 

"Do you think Remus is okay?" 

Draco Lucius sighed, his shoulders falling slightly. "I don't know." He glanced at Harry James out of the corner of his eye. "I'd rather not ask Harry about it-" He cut himself off as he heard an angry female voice shouting. 

"FINE, Ron. If you're satisfied with what you've got, that's great. Don't blame me when you get a D on your paper." 

Harry James and Draco Lucius looked down the corridor they were passing. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were walking out of the library doors just down the hall. Ron was storming off in the opposite direction. Hermione stood with her hands on her hips, glaring after him. 

"The Weasel's a brat." Hermione heard Harry's voice come from behind her. Startled, she turned, noticing it was Harry James, not Harry. She narrowed her eyes slightly. 

"He doesn't always act like that." 

"He's one of the biggest gits you'll ever meet," Harry James responded. "He's a bigot." 

"You're friends with Harry, right?" Draco Lucius asked, quickly stepping in between Hermione and Harry James. 

Hermione nodded. "We've been friends since our first year. He's like a brother to me." 

"Can you tell us how Sirius died?" The expression on Draco Lucius's face was somber. 

Hermione's eyes widened, and her mouth fell open. "Why?" 

"Because Sirius is very special to us in our world. He took me away from the Dursleys," Harry James said. 

"He adopted me after my parents were killed," Draco Lucius said. "He and Remus have been taking care of both of us." 

"Remus is okay, right?" Harry James's voice sounded a bit desperate. 

Hermione blinked, leaning against a wall. "Remus is fine. He's actually in the school until sometime next week, so I'm sure you'll be able to talk to him." She closed her eyes. "He still seems so sad, though." 

"Because of Sirius?" Draco Lucius said quietly. 

Hermione nodded, opening her eyes once more. 

"How did it happen?" 

Hermione sank to the floor, leaning against the wall. "Bellatrix Lestrange… she killed him when we were in the Ministry of Magic, trying to get to the prophecy." 

Harry James's eyes widened, and he sat down beside Hermione. Draco Lucius followed suit. "You were trying to get the prophecy?" Harry James repeated. 

"We didn't go there to get the prophecy. We thought we were going there to save Sirius. Harry had a vision that Sirius had been captured by You-Know-Who… but we got there and found that it was a trap. Sirius hadn't been captured at all. He wasn't even there. Voldemort had lured us there so he could use us to get to the prophecy." 

"Harry had a vision?" Harry James said sharply. 

"Yes. Dumbledore came in with the Order and managed to save all of us that had gone, but Sirius… fell. He disappeared behind the veil. He's dead." Hermione put her head in her hands. "And the prophecy broke in all the confusion, so we still don't know what it said." 

"You don't know?" Harry James's expression suddenly hardened. "That bastard should have been in Slytherin," he spat, standing up. 

Hermione looked up in confusion. "Who?" 

"Dumbledore. He knows what the fucking prophecy said. He's known for a long time, considering he was THERE when Trelawny said it." Harry James let out a small growl, his upper lip curling back. "He's too manipulative for his own good." 

"Do YOU know what the prophecy said?" Hermione asked, her eyes widening. 

"Of course. I made Dumbledore tell me in my second year. I wasn't putting up with his secrets anymore by then." He gritted his teeth, clenching his hand around his wand in his pocket. "He can't get away with that. He's got to tell him." 

"He's got to tell who?" 

"Harry. Your Harry." Harry James stared down the hall, his eyes dark. "Better yet, I'll tell him myself." He started moving to go and find Harry. 

"NO!" Hermione stood up as well, blocking Harry James's way. "Harry trusts Dumbledore. If he finds out Dumbledore has been lying to him, it'll crush him!" 

"He has to know that he can't rely on Dumbledore." 

"But-" 

"Don't." Draco Lucius reached up and tried to put a hand on Hermione's arm. As usual, he watched his hand fly through the girl's arm, but it was enough to get her attention. "He's right. Dumbledore can't be trusted, and Harry has to know that." 

"Think of Harry's FEELINGS, though!" Hermione said, turning towards Draco, her eyes filled with compassion. 

"It's better for his feelings if he knows." 

Hermione let out a small sound of frustration, turning back to Harry James, only to find that he was no longer there. Her mouth fell open, and she looked both ways up and down the corridor. "Where did he go?" 

Draco Lucius smirked. "He does that. He's like Batman sometimes." 

Hermione stared down at Draco Lucius with an incredulous expression. "You know about Batman?" 

"Of course. How could I be in love with a muggle-raised wizard and not know about the joys of muggle comics?" 

* * * 

"Where do you want me to start?" 

"Wherever you want," Draco answered. 

Harry wrinkled his nose. "Where I'd WANT to start is what you already know. My real life started when I came to Hogwarts." 

Draco raised an eyebrow. "And what about the first eleven years of your life?" 

"You already know the first year." 

"Would you stop saying I already know?" Draco spat, a sneer spreading across his face. "You know what I already know. I'm asking you to tell me what I don't know." 

Harry sighed, but didn't respond. 

"Who are the Dursleys?" 

Harry looked away from Draco. "They're the muggle family that raised me. Aunt Petunia was my mother's sister. My only living relatives." 

"And why are you so unwilling to talk about them? What are they like?" 

Harry let out a bitter laugh. "They told me my parents died in a car crash because my father had been drinking. I thought I had been in the backseat of that car, which is how I got the scar on my head." Harry gave his scar a quick, angry rub. 

Draco was staring at him. "Is that what Dumbledore told them?" 

"No. He, in fact, told them to tell me the truth. I didn't know I was a wizard until Hagrid came and knocked down the door." 

"That's preposterous! Why didn't they tell you?" 

"They wanted to squash all the magic out of me. They hate magic. Petunia hated my mother, and all three of them hate me." Harry sighed. "That family would confirm every single one of your anti-muggle beliefs. They are truly the bottom of the pot." 

"What did they do to you?" Draco's eyes had widened slightly. 

Harry hesitated, but proceeded to tell Draco what he had gone through growing up with the Dursleys. He wasn't looking at Draco as he spoke, but if he had he would have seen the expressions of anger and shock filter through the Slytherin's normally cold face. 

Draco finally cut Harry off when he spoke of the cupboard under the stairs. "You were living in a **cupboard**? And Dumbledore lets you go BACK there?" 

Harry finally turned his eyes over to Draco, surprised at the boy's outburst. "I don't have anyplace else to go. Sirius was supposed to be my guardian, but he couldn't until we had proven him innocent. Now it's too late for that." Harry buried his head in his knees again, wondering why he was telling Draco Malfoy about his history with the Dursleys. 

"You're not going back." 

Harry looked up to see Draco staring back at him with his jaw set, oddly resembling Hermione's stubborn look. "What?" 

"No wizard deserves to be treated like that. I bet I can pull SOME strings in the Ministry, even with my father in Azkaban." 

Harry stared at Draco. "As much as I would love to live somewhere else, I have to go back there." 

"Why?" 

"Because." 

"Because why?" 

"Just because." 

"Because **Dumbledore** said so?" Draco's upper lip curled back. 

"Yes!" Harry snapped. "There's more to it than that, but I'm not going to tell **you**." Draco narrowed his eyes in thought, and Harry looked away from him again, staring down at the Quidditch pitch. 

"Are you somehow protected from the Dark Lord there?" 

Harry's mouth fell open and he stared at Draco once more. "How did you know that?" 

"Because there's no other good reason that you wouldn't tell me. I'm supposed to be Mr. Death Eater Junior, so it's understandable." Draco stood up. "My point is that you can get away from the Dursleys. There's other ways of protecting you from the Dark Lord." 

Harry sighed. "Dumbledore said-" 

"It doesn't MATTER what Dumbledore says," Draco said, crossing his arms. "Whether you believe it or not, he doesn't have any say in where you go over the summer. The MINISTRY does, since you are an orphan and under eighteen." 

Harry, still sitting on the grass, suddenly found himself unable to tear his gaze away from Draco. "Why are you doing this?" he asked quietly, afraid of finding some ulterior motive. 

"I already told you. Wizards, even great gits like Harry Potter, should not live with a muggle family that doesn't give the wizard the proper respect they deserve." 

Despite himself, Harry felt a smirk creeping across his face. "You think I deserve respect?" 

"Of course. I may have treated you like shit over the years, Harry, but I have always respected you as a fellow wizard." Harry was startled at the use of his first name, but didn't say anything as Draco continued. "Those damn muggles don't have the right to treat you like I treat you." A twisted grin was spreading across Draco's face. 

Harry shook his head, but couldn't stop his own smile. "You're insane, Malfoy." 

"No, I'm not. I'm gifted with seeing the truth." 

"Insane," Harry repeated, standing up as well. He didn't fully understand why Malfoy was offering to help him with his Dursley problem, but he welcomed the idea, and it lifted his spirits. 

"Nice to see you two haven't killed each other yet." Harry and Draco looked down the hill to see Harry James approaching them with his hands in his pockets. "I thought you said you hated each other and couldn't stand to be in each other's presence." 

"We did say that," Draco responded. "We're polar opposites." 

Harry James smirked. "I wouldn't say that. The opposite of you would be a completely non-sexy Hufflepuff." 

"No, it would be a non-sexy muggle." The statement fell out of Harry's mouth. His eyes widened as he realized what it implicated, and he found himself blushing as Draco and Harry James stared at him. 

Draco raised his eyebrows, but couldn't help but grin. "I must be prettier than I thought, if I've got two Harry Potters calling me sexy." 

Harry James burst out laughing. "Yes, yes, you're very pretty." Still grinning from ear to ear, he leaned forward and said in a hushed tone, "You'd be prettier with your hair loose. Hair gel tends to flake." 

Draco narrowed his eyes. "For your information, I use a magical, conditioning, non-flake gel. And I'm not your boyfriend." 

"I know you're not. He's much prettier than you." 

Draco rolled his eyes. "I'm leaving. I have to get a paper finished so I can actually get to sleep tonight." 

Harry finally found his voice. "You're having problems sleeping?" 

"None of your business. See you tomorrow." Draco set off down the hill, not looking back. 

Harry watched him until he turned the corner around the tree and was out of sight. He finally looked away to see Harry James watching him with a knowing smile. "Don't look at me like that," Harry said. "You know nothing." He moved to start down the hill, as well. 

"Wait a moment. I came up here to ask you something very important," Harry James said, his smile falling and his expression becoming serious. 

"What?" 

"Do you trust Dumbledore?" 

* * * 

Hermione was keeping Draco Lucius company while they waited for Harry James to return. They were wandering the halls aimlessly, chatting about classes, '_Hogwarts, A History_,' and the differences between their worlds. 

"So why does Harry James hate Ron so much?" Hermione asked casually. "He doesn't know Ron here. He can't know what he's like." 

Draco Lucius sighed. "Truthfully, I don't know." 

"You don't know what happened?" 

"No… I just don't know why Harry took it so personally." 

"What did happen?" 

Draco shoved his hands in his pockets, looking down at the floor as they walked. "When we were on the train to Hogwarts for our first year here, Harry made friends with Weasley. They ate tons of candy, tried out spells that didn't work, and generally made fools of themselves. When I tried to make friends with Harry, he turned me down for Weasley." 

Hermione's eyes had been getting wider and wider while Draco Lucius was speaking. "That happened in your world, too? I just figured it had been that Harry had made friends with you first, instead of Ron." 

"Nope. Harry and I hated each other, in fact, for about half of our first year." 

"So what happened?" 

"We got over it, obviously." 

"I mean with Harry and Ron." 

Draco Lucius looked over at Hermione. "Can't you guess? Weasley has the same hatred of Slytherins here that he has in our world." 

Hermione's expression melted into realization. "Harry was sorted into Slytherin, and Ron hated him." It wasn't a question. 

"Exactly. Harry was already plenty put-out about being sorted into the house that was supposedly a Dark Wizard factory. Having his first friend that he had ever made suddenly treat him worse than the scum on the lake…" 

"It's understandable. Ron can be brutal, sometimes." Hermione sighed. "But he really does have a good heart." 

Draco Lucius smirked. "I could tell that from the moment we dropped out of the sky. He defended your Harry so brilliantly that I had the fleeting thought that they might be together." 

"Together?" 

"Like me and my Harry." His voice was quiet. 

Hermione choked back a laugh. "You can have my assurance that those two would NEVER happen." 

Draco Lucius offered a small smile. "I can see that now." He sighed, looking down again. "But it still frightens me." 

"What does?" 

"Well, it scares me enough that alternate dimensions actually exist," Draco Lucius began, his tone carrying an emotion that Hermione couldn't place. 

"And…?" 

"It scares me even more that Harry and I aren't destined to be together in every single one." 

* * * 

"Do I trust Dumbledore?" Harry repeated. 

"That's what I just asked. Do you?" 

"Why do you want to know?" 

"Because he can't be trusted. You know that, right?" 

Harry sat back down on the grass, looking down at the Quidditch pitch again, but not really seeing anything. "I do." 

"You **do** trust him, or you **do** know that he can't be trusted?" 

"I don't trust him," Harry said. "I've never really thought about it until now, but I can't trust him anymore. He hid too many things from me. He waited too long to tell me…" 

"Tell you what?" 

"The prophecy." 

Harry James raised an eyebrow, sitting down next to Harry. "So you do know about the prophecy? Your friend Granger said that the prophecy has been destroyed, and none of you knew what was inside." 

Harry sighed. "I haven't told anyone yet. It's kind of hard to deal with." 

"It is hard. I was fortunate enough to know since second year." 

Harry looked up in surprise. "How did you find out so early?" 

"I bothered Dumbledore enough until he told me. I don't like things being hidden from me, and I knew that Dumbledore was doing just that." 

Harry sighed. "You've already fulfilled YOUR prophecy. Any advice you want to give me?" 

"Advice?" Harry James repeated thoughtfully, leaning back on his elbows, watching the sun set over the pitch. "The best advice I can give is to take the prophecy literally." 

"'_Neither can live while the other survives_?'" Harry quoted bitterly. "I've already figured out that I have to murder or be murdered." 

"It's easier to not think of it as murder," Harry James said. "What I meant is you have to be Voldemort's equal in order to defeat him. You have to be just as good as him, if not better." 

"Voldemort is not good," Harry said. 

"You know what I mean. You need to be able to get inside Voldemort's head without getting lost, so you truly CAN be his equal," Harry James paused, glancing over at Harry. "That's another thing I wanted to bring up with you - have you mastered occulmency yet? 

It was by pure coincidence that Harry suddenly felt a pain that he hadn't felt in at least a month. His scar flared up first, and then his head exploded in pain. Harry put a hand over his scar, crying out. The last thing he saw was his own face, looking down at him in alarm. The last thing he heard was Harry James, somehow still finding room to make a sarcastic comment. 

"I take that as a no." 

Harry blacked out. 

_To be continued. Again._


	11. Part XI: Reflections

**Doppelganger   
Part XI: Reflections**

By Krystiana   
insanebunny@peoplepc.com 

**Disclaimer**: Don't own. Don't sue. (aka HP and all other characters belong to JKR and whole bunch of other people, blah, blah, blah...) 

**Warnings**: Slash, of the H/D nature. You should probably also read the previous chapters before tackling this one, or else you'll be MAJORLY confused. 

**Archive**: My site (), FanFiction.net, Noire Sensus (if they should somehow get a hold of this), Schnoogle (eventually). Anywhere else, please e-mail me first. ^_^ 

Emma Grant beta'd this, as well as all previous parts. Thank you for tearing it apart, and thank you for unintentionally inspiring me to finally finish this chapter. ^_~ 

* * *

Harry opened his eyes to darkness. The only thing he could hear was the sound of breathing, although he could not tell where it was coming from. He felt his arm moving, his lips moving in a silent incantation, and a torch flared up a few feet away, casting a dim light on Harry's surroundings. 

Harry felt his body stand up, walking a few paces forward until he was standing in front of a mirror. The glass was spotless, but there was no reflection. Harry tried to lift his hand to touch the mirror, but found he had no control over his actions. 

"Soon, he will stand beside me." 

That voice was coming from… himself? Harry recognized the tone, and he would have shivered if he had control. It was Voldemort's voice. He was trapped inside Voldemort's body, like in the dreams he'd had in his fifth year. 

Now Voldemort was touching the mirror, as Harry had tried to do only moments before. He could feel the cold surface underneath Voldemort's fingers, and a surge of joy came from inside him. 

"With a very Slytherin Potter standing by my side, Dumbledore and the Ministry will crumble." Voldemort flashed a twisted smile at the mirror. "I will rise in their place.". 

"My Lord?" Another familiar voice came from a dark corner of the room. "You called for me?" 

Voldemort turned, and Harry spotted Bellatrix Lestrange through his eyes. "You will send the package I gave you. It should arrive tomorrow morning." 

"Yes, my Lord." Bellatrix smirked, and Harry felt rage building up inside him. She'd had that same damn smile on her face right after she had killed Sirius. 

Voldemort froze, noticing the anger in his mind. He had no reason to feel angry at Bellatrix… "It's not polite to eavesdrop, boy." 

With a jolt, Harry forced himself out of Voldemort's head. 

Someone was standing over him. Harry looked up to see Harry James staring down at him through narrowed eyes. 

"So what did you see?" Harry James asked, not waiting for Harry to say anything. 

Harry squeezed his eyes shut again, and managed to sit up. "A mirror." 

Harry James raised an eyebrow, squatting down beside Harry. "A mirror?" 

"You were right - you and Draco Lucius were brought here because of Voldemort." Harry pressed his palm to his scar, which was still giving him a splitting headache. 

"I don't understand, though," Harry James said, his eyes narrowing. "I'm the one that killed Voldemort in our world. Why would he bring us here?" 

"He thinks you will 'stand by his side,' and take over the wizarding world together," Harry said, finally managing to open his eyes. 

"He's fucking insane." 

"We knew that already." 

"But why does he think I'll help him?" 

"Hermione!" Harry's eyes lit up, and he abruptly stood up. "She already KNOWS what brought you here!" 

"What?" Harry James rose to his feet beside Harry, his mouth forming a snarl. "Why the hell didn't she tell us before?" 

Harry blinked, and then shook his head. "No, no. She doesn't know she knows. When we were trying to figure out what was happening - before you came here, she showed me a book on Morgana." 

"Morgana? What does that old witch have to do with this?" 

"It's HER mirror. The book said that Morgana made the mirror with the intent to visit other versions of yourself." Harry bit his bottom lip in thought. "But the mirror would only show you glimpses of the other world - it wouldn't give you the whole picture, and it wouldn't allow you to meet your other self face to face." 

Harry James crossed his arms, staring down at the pitch. "That might explain why he thought I would be willing to join him. He saw Slytherin, and automatically assumed so." His upper lip curled back. "Voldemort IS a bloody Slytherin, and he's still just as prejudiced as the rest of the world." 

"I need to find Hermione," Harry said, already starting down the hill. "Now that we have a REAL lead, she can help." 

"Wait." Harry James reached out and tried to grab Harry by the arm, only to watch his hand sail through Harry's side. "Damn, that's annoying," he muttered before narrowing his eyes at Harry. "You need to explain something to me, first." 

Harry blinked, but turned to face his double again. "What?" 

"Why haven't you learned occulmency yet?" 

Harry sucked in his breath, his eyes widening, unable to bring himself to answer the question. 

"What the hell is Dumbledore thinking?" 

Harry looked down. "It... it's not Dumbledore's fault. It's mine. I was training with Snape..." 

"And?" 

"And I did something really, really wrong, and Snape refused to instruct me anymore. I don't want to talk about it - it'll just make me feel worse." 

Harry James studied his twin's face for a moment, considering prying the secret out of him, but decided to let it go. "I can teach you." 

Harry looked up, his mouth falling open slightly. "Really?" 

"You need to learn. That's the only way you'll be able to beat him, you know." 

Harry let out a shaky breath. "Is that how you beat him? With occulmency?"" 

"It was part of it," Harry James said. "You need to be his equal, like I already told you. Voldemort knows occulmency, and you need to know it, too. And sticking your wand into some Dark Arts wouldn't hurt, either." 

Harry frowned, shaking his head. "No way." 

"If you want to be able to kill him -" 

"The prophecy says I need to be his equal. It doesn't say I need to BECOME Voldemort." 

Harry James smirked. "Do I look like Voldemort to you?" 

"No." 

"Can you see what I'm saying, then?" 

"Yes, but I don't want to learn any Dark Arts." 

Harry James's expression darkened. "I thought you would have learned by now that this isn't about what you want. Whether you want it or not, you need to let your Slytherin side out to play." 

"I don't have a Slytherin side," Harry said haughtily. "I'm a Gryffindor." 

"That has nothing to do with it. Draco has said I've got a nasty streak of Gryffindor in me, but that doesn't make me any less Slytherin." 

Harry couldn't find a response to that. 

Harry James had a grin spreading across his face. "Besides, just think of how much you'll shock Snape when you show him that you've got some Slytherin in you. He nearly had a stroke when I was sorted into Slytherin." 

"Why would I want to show Snape anyth..." Harry trailed off, his eyes widening in horror as he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, shit." 

"What's wrong?" 

"I forgot to do my Potions essay. It's due tomorrow." 

"He'll excuse it. You've had a hell of a weekend, with two people dropping out of the sky." 

Harry let out a sharp laugh. "Snape never excuses anything for me. He hates me more than anyone else." 

Harry James raised an eyebrow. "More than Longbottom?" 

Harry nodded. "I need to at least go scrape something up. I can't show up for class tomorrow morning with nothing to turn in." He started down the hill again. 

Harry James followed him, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I can give you a hand." 

"In Potions?" 

"In my world, I'm top of the class. Snape adores me." 

Harry stopped walking altogether and stared at his double in shock. "Who the hell ARE you?" 

Harry James stared back, confused. "What do you mean?" 

"The day that Professor Snape adores Harry Potter is the day that Ron Weasley kisses Pansy Parkinson." 

Harry James let out a sound of pure disgust. "That's too gross for me to picture. Don't insult Pansy like that." 

"I'm not insulting. I'm telling the truth." 

* * * 

Books tucked under his arm, Harry finally trudged into the Gryffindor common room five minutes after curfew. 

"Where have you BEEN all night?" Hermione asked as Harry collapsed into the sofa beside her. 

"Harry James was helping me with my Potions essay. I forgot about it in all the confusion." Harry let his head fall back on the arm of the sofa. "I helped myself with my homework. That sounds so weird." 

"It sounds like a bad idea. You're horrible at Potions, Harry." 

"But Harry James is the best in his class." 

Hermione's eyes widened. "You're kidding." 

"Nope. He's really... smart, Hermione," Harry said softly. 

"You sound sad." 

"I could have been smart." 

Hermione smacked Harry in the leg. "You are smart, you git. You're just chronically lazy." Harry smiled weakly, and Hermione scooted closer to Harry, her voice dropping to a whisper. "What's wrong, Harry?" 

Harry looked away from Hermione, staring into the fireplace. "I know what the prophecy said, Hermione." 

"Did Harry James tell you?" 

"No." Harry glanced at Hermione, raising an eyebrow. "What makes you think that?" 

"Because he was ranting and raving about how Dumbledore didn't tell you about the prophecy before he ran off to find you." Hermione relaxed into the seat, studying Harry's face. "So Harry James told you what it said?" 

"No. Dumbledore told me at the end of last year." 

"Hah!" Hermione let out a smug smile. "And Draco Lucius said you shouldn't trust Dumbledore!" 

Harry sat up, resting his elbows on his knees. "And I don't trust Dumbledore." 

Hermione's eyes widened. "Why? Because Harry James told you not to?" 

"No. I haven't trusted him for a while, actually." 

Hermione sat in silence for a moment. "Why haven't you told me and Ron about this?" she asked. "About the prophecy, about Dumbledore? Do you still trust US?" 

"Of course!" Harry quickly turned his head back towards Hermione. "I trust you and Ron with my life. It's just... it's hard to talk about." He glanced around the common room, searching for the familiar red hair of his friend. "I want to tell both of you at once. Where's Ron?" 

"He's up in the dormitory. In case you haven't noticed, he's a bit angry with you right now." 

"Oh. I figured he would be." Harry relaxed back into the sofa again, frowning. "You knew what was going on, but he didn't. He's probably pretty pissed." 

"You need to talk to him, Harry." 

"I will tonight." 

"Good." 

Harry was silent for a moment more before changing the subject. "It's Morgana's mirror that brought Harry James and Draco Lucius here. You were right." 

Hermione's eyes widened in surprise. "When did you figure that out?" 

"I had a vision while I was outside." 

"WHAT?!" Hermione exclaimed, attracting the attention of the few other Gryffindors in the common room. She lowered her voice to a whisper again. "I thought you said you were studying occulmency with Dumbledore!" 

"I was lying. I was trying to figure out what was happening to my brain, remember?" 

"Oh." Hermione paused for a moment. "Well, we know what caused this problem now. It will be easier to research now that we've narrowed it down. Have you told Dumbledore yet?" 

"No." 

"You should talk to him-" Hermione cut herself off. "Never mind. I'll tell him tomorrow. I'm supposed to go see him anyway." 

Harry raised an eyebrow. "What for?" 

"I'm... helping research a project for him." Hermione pursed her lips, silently letting Harry know that she couldn't say anymore than that. 

Harry sighed. "I should go talk to Ron, and then go to bed. I'm exhausted." He moved to stand up, but Hermione put her hand on his arm. 

"Take care of yourself, Harry. You can't get too wrapped up in what Harry James's life is like." 

Harry blinked, staring down at Hermione. "I'm not." 

"I know you, Harry. You can't forget who you are - a great, brave Gryffindor who has saved the lives of many people, myself included." Hermione gave her friend a bright smile. 

Harry couldn't help but smile back. 

* * * 

Draco stared up into the darkness, hoping he would simply drift off to sleep. 

Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Harry Potter. 

He saw Harry catching the Snitch. He saw Harry laughing with his friends at the Gryffindor table. He saw Harry staring in determination as he fired a disarming spell. He saw a small, child-like Harry curled up in a cupboard under the stairs. 

He saw Harry smiling at him, licking his lips, beckoning him. He saw Harry lean in closer, sealing the gap between their lips... 

"ARGH!!" Draco sat up in his bed, snarling into the darkness. 

He saw his own pale hand reach out to trace the curve of Harry's jawline... 

~_I don't like Harry Potter. I don't like Harry Potter. I don't like Harry Potter._~ Draco chanted his mantra in his mind, grabbing his sheets so hard that his knuckles were turning white. 

He saw Harry pushing him down to the bed, placing soft kisses down his neck and chest... 

Draco's breath quickened. He was awake! Why couldn't he stop these fleeting visions? 

He saw Harry staring deep into his own eyes. The fantasy Harry said something to him, and although Draco couldn't hear his voice, he knew exactly what was said. 

_I love you._

Draco buried his face in his hands. 

~_I don't like Harry Potter. I don't like Harry Potter..._~ 

* * * 

When Harry entered his dormitory, he was surprised to find it dark. The light from the window revealed a human-shaped lump underneath the blankets on Ron's bed. 

"Ron?" Harry said quietly. 

The lump gave a snort, but didn't wake up. 

"Damn." Harry sighed and shrugged himself out of his clothes, pulling on his pajamas. He drew back the curtains on his four-poster bed and settled himself in. 

He was nearly asleep when he felt the mattress sinking underneath someone else's weight. A warm body crawled up next to him, and he felt a head lay on his chest. Harry glanced down, his eyes widening at Draco's shining hair. Eyes that appeared to be carved from ice stared back into his own. 

"What-" Draco cut him off by wrapping his arms around Harry's shoulders, using the leverage to pull himself up to Harry's lips. As Draco's lips touched his own, Harry felt himself melting inside. He kissed the boy back, and let out a small moan when Draco thrust his tongue into Harry's mouth. Desire rose within Harry, and he reached his arm around to pull Draco even closer. 

As soon as Harry's fingers touched Draco's back, the Slytherin disappeared. Harry gasped in shock of losing that intimate contact, and he sat up in his bed, panting. 

He'd been dreaming again. 

* * * 

"Aren't you homesick?" 

Harry James and Draco Lucius smiled at each other. Pansy had been talking up a storm all morning, reminding them of the Pansy they knew. It was somewhat of a relief that Pansy was relatively the same person that she was in their world. 

"I suppose we're homesick, but it's a very strange kind of homesick," Harry James said. 

"We're still at Hogwarts, but it's not OUR Hogwarts," Draco Lucius said in agreement. 

"Well, I certainly don't mind the extra Slytherins," Pansy said, grinning at them from across the table. 

Suddenly, a small brown package fell in front of Harry James. He stared at it for a moment, noticing his name scrawled on the tag, and then reached for the package. 

Draco Lucius grabbed his arm. "Don't touch it." Harry James looked at his lover in confusion, who narrowed his eyes. "Who would send you a package in this world?" 

Harry James looked back at the package again. "I know who," he said. "But we can't just let it sit there." He picked up the package, turning it over in his hands. 

"Are you going to open it?" Pansy asked, eyeing the package. She watched as Harry James scraped a nail across the brown paper, making a small tear. Pansy was suddenly blinded by a bright light that filled the hall. It quickly faded, and she stared across the table at Harry James and Draco Lucius, who appeared to be glowing. The glow faded, and the two boys stared at Harry James's now empty hands. 

"Are you okay?" Pansy asked. Neither of the boys answered her, so she reached across the table and shook Draco Lucius's arm. The blonde snapped out of his trance, staring back across the table at Pansy. "What just happened?" she asked. 

"I have no idea," Harry James said, glancing up and down the table for the package, which had completely disappeared. 

"I think I know," Draco Lucius said, staring down at Pansy's hand, still grasping onto his arm. "We're solid." 

Across the hall, Harry had only glanced up at the flash, thinking it had merely been a stray spell. He took another bite of his eggs and began peeling back the seal of the envelope in his hands. 

Inside, there was only a piece of parchment. It wasn't addressed, nor was it signed. It had only one line written across it. 

_I know who you really are._   
  
  
_to be continued _


	12. Part XII: Sleepless

**Doppelganger   
Part X: Sleepless**

By Krystiana   
insanebunnypeoplepc.com 

**Disclaimer**: Don't own. Don't sue. (aka HP and all other characters belong to JKR and whole bunch of other people, blah, blah, blah...) 

**Warnings**: This is slash. If you don't know what that means, don't read this or I'll set you on fire. Unless you're open-minded, have at it. Maybe I'll convert yet another person to the wonders of slash. (WOO BABY.) 

**Archive**: My site (http:vichan.delete.org), FanFiction.net, Noire Sensus (if they should somehow get a hold of this), Schnoogle (eventually). Anywhere else, please e-mail me first. 

**Thanks**: To Emma Grant, who has been my beta and dealt with my ramblings, which quite often make their way into my fics. She's got no idea how great she is. I'm a lazy bum, and Emma is a goddess. 

**Notes**: I'M SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG. RL issues, etc, etc - the usual excuses. However, to make up for it, this chapter is over twice as long as the rest of the chapters. Parts of this chapter were rewritten over ten times, so I'd really appreciate comments on this one. 

Quite a few people have asked me if I'm going to be writing a back-story to Harry James and Draco Lucius (what's happened to them, in their world, up until the point when Doppelganger began). I'm sorry guys, but the answer is no. I know exactly what's happened to them, but there have been enough AU "What-if-Harry-was-in-Slytherin" stories, and I really don't have the interest in drawing out their story that long. 

I upload the chapter everywhere at once, but you can usually find it on my livejournal first. If you friend me, I'll most likely friend ya back. I don't have nearly enough friends yet. :) size=1 width=100%>The Slytherins who hadn't made it to breakfast yet were staring in awe at the door leading to Draco Malfoy's room. For nearly ten minutes, they'd been hearing loud crashes, glass breaking, and Draco himself cursing up a storm. His door was ajar, but no one dared to approach it. 

Draco let out another string of curses as he knocked over nearly all the potions in his cabinet. His coordination wasn't quite up to speed - it had been nearly seventy hours since he'd last gotten some sleep. He was searching for a pepper-up potion so he would at least be able to function for the day. He finally found one buried in the back of the cabinet. It had a thin layer of dust on the bottle, but otherwise looked fine. 

Knocking back the potion, Draco turned to face his mirror, grimacing at his reflection. A few days ago, his hair had merely been 'as bad as Potter's.' Today, however, his hair was definitely worse than Potter's had ever been. Tossing and turning while sweating profusely all night had resulted in what appeared to be dreadlocks forming in Draco's hair. 

Draco shoved down the urge to shriek as he grabbed his comb and attacked the knots in his hair. Combing seemed to be making it worse, so he stopped and looked for his hair gel, hoping to salvage a style that wouldn't look like a rat's nest. 

A few minutes later, the few Slytherins still in the common jumped when Draco's door slammed open, and the blonde stood in the doorway with a murderous expression on his face. 

"Draco, your hair-" The seventh year cut himself off when Draco turned that look on him. 

Draco stormed through the common room and out into the dungeons. As the door slammed shut, the Slytherins looked at each other, all knowing what the others were thinking. 

Draco Malfoy had definitely gone insane. 

_I know who you really are._

Harry stared down at the parchment in his hands. It was unsigned, and he didn't recognize the handwriting. Biting the inside of his cheek, he turned the parchment over, searching for some clue to lead him to who had sent it. 

A clatter from the other side of the hall made Harry jerk his gaze up. His mouth dropped open at what he saw. Across the hall, Draco was standing in the open doors with his hair in disarray, dark circles under his eyes, and his teeth bared in a snarl. 

Pansy let out a gasp, leaping to her feet as Draco marched up to the Slytherin table. He stopped right beside Harry James, who looked up at him with innocent eyes. 

"You... you-" Draco growled loudly, his fingers turning into claws, reaching for Harry James's neck. 

Draco Lucius reached across Harry James and slapped Draco's hands away. Draco turned his glare on his double, his eyes narrowing. "Stay out of this, imposter. Your boyfriend stole my hair gel." 

Draco Lucius raised an eyebrow, but couldn't help a smirk spreading across his face. "The bedhead look suits you. I hear it's quite popular among the muggles." 

Draco growled again, louder this time, his eyes turning back to face Harry James once more. "Give it back, or I WILL find a way to kill you, whether I can touch you or not." 

Harry James simply shrugged. "I don't have it." 

"But you DID take it. Where is it?" Draco demanded. 

"Draco, you look like you haven't slept in days!" Pansy took a step forward, putting a hand on Draco's arm instead, interrupting the confrontation. 

"That's because I haven't!" Draco snapped, not taking his eyes off Harry James. 

"You should go to the hospital wing, Draco!" Pansy said, ignoring Draco's anger. 

"You should take her advice, Draco," Harry James said, his grin spreading. 

"I'm going to KILL YOU!" Draco lunged at Harry James, knocking him off the bench. The two fell to the floor and a faint trace of surprise filtered over Draco's face. "You're... there. I can touch you." Surprise fell away to cunning, and Draco smirked evilly. "I'm going to hurt you now." 

"Don't be stupid." Draco Lucius said. Draco turned to look at his double, only to find a wand pointed directly in between his eyes. "If you hurt him, I will MAIM you. And then we will both kill you." 

Draco snarled, but backed away from Harry James, allowing him to get to his feet. "Where is it?" he demanded of Harry James once more. 

"I'm not telling." Harry James glanced at Draco's hair again, the corners of his mouth twitching. "If you can go for the entire day looking like you do right now, I'll give it back." 

"That's blackmail!" 

"Obviously," Draco Lucius replied dryly. 

"Honestly, I expected you to at least take a shower," Harry James said. 

"Draco shouldn't have to go through the whole day!" Pansy blurted, cutting off Harry James. She turned to Draco, her eyes wide with concern. "You haven't slept, and you look horrible - you need to go to the hospital wing and get a sleeping potion, Draco!" 

"No. I will after Quidditch practice." 

"That's not until TONIGHT, Draco!" 

Across the hall, Harry could no longer hear the conversation between the Slytherins, so he turned his attention back to the note in his hand. Puzzling at it for only a moment more, he shoved it into his pocket, keeping it to study later. 

"Let me take a look at your Potions essay, Harry," Hermione said as the trio stood to leave for their first class. "I know you said your genius twin helped you with, but I'll believe it when I read it." 

Harry set his books on the table, flipping through his Potions text. Glancing up, he saw Ron and Hermione leaving already. "Hey!" Harry shouted angrily. "If you're going to make me dig out the essay, at least WAIT for me!" Harry gathered his books and sprinted to catch up with this friends. He started shuffling his books in his arms, attempting to free his Potions essay from the text. He'd been counting on Ron and Hermione to stop him before he ran into anything, but soon realized that was a mistake as he walked straight into something. Dropping his books, Harry fell to the floor. 

"Nice one, Potter." Draco's voice reached Harry's ears, and he winced. He fought down the urge to blush, remembering his dreams of the past few nights. 

"Watch where you're going, Potter!" Pansy snapped as Harry lifted his head. "You could have hurt Draco - he's fragile right now!" 

"I'm sleep-deprived and gel-deprived, Pansy," Draco said, his eyes rolling upwards. "I'm not made of glass." Draco glanced down at Harry, who was starting to gather up his books. 

Harry looked up to see a pale hand being offered to him. "Not bruised too badly, Potter?" Draco said, smirking. 

"Um..." Harry stared at the hand for a moment before taking it. "Aside from my ego, no. I'm fine." 

Draco pulled Harry to his feet, ignoring the small audience that was watching the two well-known rivals talk civilly. "You really should ride a broomstick everywhere you go, Potter," Draco said. "That way you might actually stay upright." 

"No, I'd run into just as much stuff. I'd just get seriously injured all the time instead of only half the time." Harry realized he was still grasping Draco's hand, and quickly released it, bending over to pick up his fallen books. Draco crouched next to him, picking up his Potions text. They stood, and Draco passed the text over to Harry, a small smile playing on his lips. "Thanks, Malfoy." Harry nodded to Draco and gave a hesitant nod to Pansy, who was staring at Harry with wide eyes. He jogged off to catch up with Hermione and Ron. 

If Harry's back hadn't been turned as he exited the hall, he would have seen Draco's eyes trailing after him, and their two doppelgangers giving each other knowing looks. 

At first, Harry was surprised to see Remus Lupin sitting on a stool in the front of the classroom, but then remembered that the werewolf had told him he would be helping out with their class that day. Harry moved to greet Remus, but immediately turned towards his seat when Snape gave him a scalding look. 

Harry glanced around the room, seeing everyone in their usual seats, but seeing Harry James deliberately sit in the front of the room unnerved him. However, it was worth it to see Snape's face when he saw Harry James take his seat. 

Snape made another classic face when Draco entered the room, his hair still sticking out in every direction. Apparently, Snape had missed the Slytherin poster-boy's entrance in the Great Hall that morning. 

Class began, and Snape moved around the room, collecting their essays. Harry felt oddly proud when Snape snatched his essay out of his hand and moved on. His professor was in for a surprise. 

The Potions professor set the essays on his desk, swirling around to face the class. "We're going to be making the Lychansite potion today. Who would like to tell me what it is?" 

Harry James was the only one in the room to raise his hand. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Hermione raise an eyebrow. 

Snape, too, peered at Harry James in curiosity. "Mr... Potter." 

"The Lycansite potion is used to detect werewolves, vampires, or veela, which sometimes disguise themselves as humans." 

"And how does it work?" 

"The person suspected must drink the potion, and their eyes will glow if they are a dark creature. They will glow red if they are a vampire, green in they are a veela, and blue if they are a werewolf. If someone who is not a dark creature takes it, there will be no effect." Harry James was staring levelly at Snape as he spoke, and he tilted his head to the side as he finished, as if asking for a more challenging question. 

"Anything else you'd like to add?" 

"Alcon Cardo, the inventor, was a werewolf who lived during the reign of Grindelwald, and he formed the alliance of werewolves, vampires, and veela that were to fight with Grindelwald. He made the potion to make sure there were no spies in his ranks." Harry James stopped, smirking. "I can tell you how it's made, as well, but I'm sure that you're about to show us." 

Snape stared at Harry James for a few moments. "Where did you learn this?" 

"You." Harry James said simply. "Well, the you that **I** know." 

The corners of Snape's lips twitched, obviously trying to decide whether to smile or yell. Finally, he smirked right back at Harry James. "Twenty points to Slytherin." He turned back towards the class. "I'm sure you all remember Remus Lupin, who taught Defense Against the Dark Arts in your third year. I'm also sure all of you know that he's a werewolf, and he's agreed to test your potions. However..." Snape said, his upper lip curling back, "You will be testing these potions on YOURSELF first, to make sure that there are no ill effects. It would be pointless to get the guinea pig sick before everyone has had a chance to test their potion." Harry could see Remus rolling his eyes, but keeping silent. 

Snape swirled around and began furiously writing down the ingredients in the front of the room. "Copy these down." He turned again, keeping a sharp eye on all of his students. "After you've copied the instructions, split into these pairs." He read the names off the sheet, glaring at anyone who dared to groan about who they were grouped with. 

That day, it seemed that Snape made the groups with the idea to start a riot. He made sure to pair each Gryffindor with a Slytherin, especially now that the addition of two more Slytherins evened out the class. Hermione was placed with Goyle, Draco Lucius with Dean, Harry with Draco, and Harry James was placed with Ron. 

As the class moved to their places, Harry snuck a concerned look at his red-haired friend. His eyes widened when he saw Ron glaring at **him**, not Harry James. Harry's face fell as he took his seat beside Draco, who spared him a quick nod before turning his attention back to Snape. 

"You will share a grade based on the final outcome of your potion, and you will each be graded individually based on how much work I observe you doing," Snape said. "Do not forget that the potions will be tested at the end of class by yourselves, and then by Lupin. Begin." 

Harry and Draco worked mostly in silence. Oddly enough, so did Ron and Harry James. Although Ron made it obvious that he did not like Harry's double, he also knew that Harry James knew this potion already. Ron was more interested in testing a safe potion on himself, rather than something that could potentially give him fur. 

"You should all be finishing up by now," Snape said towards the end of the period. "Bottle your potion and let it cool for two minutes." Harry was staring in horror at his potion. According to the instructions, the liquid should have been crystal clear. His and Draco's however, was currently a dark murky brown. 

"Mr. Potter, would you care to tell me what you did wrong?" Snape had snuck up on him, and was now staring at the cauldron in distaste. Harry opened and closed his mouth, but could not find an answer. He had done his half of the work exactly as it stated in the instructions. 

"It's my fault, Professor Snape." Harry turned and gaped at Draco as he spoke. "I added the matarie before the crushed sloth beans. I may have not stirred it enough times, either." 

Most of the class was silent, and Snape was staring at Draco. "Are you feeling all right, Draco? You don't seem to be... yourself today." His eyes flicked up to Draco's currently out of control hair. "Do you need to the hospital wi-" 

"No, I don't need to go to the hospital wing," Draco said shortly. "It was just a mistake." 

The class seemed even quieter than before. Everyone was staring at Draco, who had not only messed up in his best class, but taken the blame himself when he had the opportunity to pin it on Harry Potter. 

Snape glanced between the two boys. Draco was staring straight ahead, and Harry was still staring at Draco. "Needless to say, you two will not be testing your potion today. Start cleaning up." 

Harry began sweeping off the table, glancing at Draco every few moments. "Thanks," he said quietly. 

"For what?" Draco said as he emptied the contents of the cauldron. "It was my fault in the first place." 

"I know, but-" Harry cut himself off, and Draco looked at him, tilting his head to the side. 

"Two days ago I would have blamed you," Draco finished for him. "I know. Things are different now, Ha... Potter." 

Harry still wasn't quite sure **why** things were different between the two of them, as it had been Draco that had changed things, really. He didn't argue, but offered Draco a smile as they continued cleaning up. 

"Feel like talking some more tonight, Potter?" Draco said as they finished up, sitting back in their seats. 

"Um... sure." 

"Meet me after the Slytherin Quidditch practice. Just come to the pitch." 

Harry nodded. Draco smiled at him - that rare, genuine smile, and Harry smiled back. 

Ron and Harry James had already tested their potion on themselves, and were ready to test it on Remus. Harry James handed the bottle to Remus while Snape watched closely over their shoulders. 

Remus swallowed the potion, wincing from the taste as it rolled down his throat. "May I ask you a question, Harry James?" he asked after he had swallowed. 

"Yes." 

"Why did you learn of this potion so early? When Severus and I were in school, it wasn't even covered until seventh year." 

Harry James glanced over at Draco Lucius, who was currently testing his own potion. "Draco and I thought someone was impersonating you, because you'd been acting strangely. Professor Snape taught me about the potion so we would be able to find out." 

"Why not just use Veritaserum?" Snape asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Harry James looked away from Remus. "In our world, Remus isn't a fan of Veritaserum. We decided to use the Lycansite potion instead, in case it really was Remus just behaving strangely." 

"Why doesn't he like-" 

"I'd rather not talk about it," Harry James said, cutting Professor Snape off. 

As expected, Remus' eyes had taken on a blue glow. Snape smirked. "How much of the work did you do, Harry James?" 

"Not all of it." 

"Most of it, though?" 

Harry James glanced at Ron, whose eyes had already begun burning with hatred. "Yes." 

Snape nodded, not waiting to hear any more, and he and Remus moved on to Draco Lucius and Dean's potion. 

"That's a lie!" Ron spluttered. "I did half of the work, if not more, easy!" 

"But you didn't know what you were doing. You had to wait for me to tell you exactly what to do. You didn't even know to cut the materie against the grain! That's just common sense, Weasel." 

Ron's face was beat red by now. "You're not even real," he hissed. "You're just here to screw with Harry's head. I'm his best friend, and he hasn't spoken to me in days. He's talked to the ferret more than me!" 

"Ferret?" Harry James said in confusion. "Who's that - your sister?" 

Ron bared his teeth, ready to attack Harry James. 

"RON!" Hermione burst forward, grabbing his arm. "This isn't the place," she whispered. "Class is over, and Harry wants to talk to both of us during our free period." She tilted her head towards the door, where Harry was waiting. "Let's go." 

"I thought you wanted to talk to Remus," Draco Lucius said to Harry James as they headed down the hall to their next class. 

"I did, but that was before I saw how sad he looked." Harry James glanced up at his lover. "Sirius is dead in this world, and it only happened a few months ago. I don't want to upset Remus even more by telling him that he's alive in our world." 

Hermione, Ron, and Harry sat in the Gryffindor common room, pleased to find it empty. Harry sat in his seat, but kept shifting in it, obviously nervous. 

The three Gryffindors merely stared at each other for nearly a minute before Harry finally broke the silence with a hesitant laugh. "Where to start?" 

Hermione coughed, raising her eyebrows. 

Harry bit his lip. "Ron, I'm sorry I haven't told you what's been going on. Truthfully, I'm not entirely sure what's going on myself." 

"I can tell you that," Ron said bitterly. "Two imposters fell out of the sky, pretending to be you and Malfoy. They're tricking you into thinking that you two should be friends, and that you should have been in Slytherin." 

"Ron, stop," Hermione said. "Let Harry talk." She turned to Harry, offering him a small smile. "Why don't you start with the sorting?" 

"What about the sorting?" Ron asked, making it obvious he was unhappy with Hermione knowing things about Harry that he did not. 

Harry closed his eyes. "Ron, I was very close to being in Slytherin." Squeezing his eyes shut even more, Harry counted backwards in his head. _3... 2... 1..._

"**WHAT?!**" 

"Ron, shush!" Hermione hissed. 

"Nobody's here," Ron shot back. "I can be as loud as I want." 

Hermione narrowed her eyes, glaring at Ron with venom. "Harry, continue," she said without looking away from Ron. 

"The sorting hat told me that I would have done well in Slytherin. In fact, it didn't even mention another house until it finally shouted 'Gryffindor.'" Pausing, Harry took a deep breath. "In our second year, when I met Tom Riddle, he said that we were very similar. We were both half-blood orphans that were raised by muggles." He paused and cast a glance at Ron, who was staring back at him pensively, then Hermione, who simply gave him a nod of encouragement. Harry smiled weakly. "I didn't tell you guys because I knew how you felt about Slytherin." "

What did you expect me to do?" Ron said, his voice not quite as harsh as it was before. "You're my best friend, Harry. I wouldn't have dropped you over something like that. Before I even came to Hogwarts, I overheard Fred and George telling Mum and Dad that the hat said they would have been great in Slytherin." 

Harry's eyes widened, and Hermione's mouth dropped open. "The hat wanted Fred and George in Slytherin?" Hermione said in disbelief. 

Ron nodded. "Charlie, too, apparently. But Harry, what counts is that you WEREN'T sorted into Slytherin." 

Harry closed his eyes again. "The thing is, Ron... after talking with Harry James, I think I was supposed to be." 

"They're NOT REAL, Harry," Ron said firmly. "It's just some trick that Voldemort thought up to screw with your head." 

Harry shook his head. "They are very real, Ron. Yes, they were brought here by Voldemort, but they are definitely who they say they are. Voldemort only knows the first part of the prophecy, while Harry James knows the whole thing." 

Ron was silent for a moment. "The... prophecy? The one the Death Eaters wanted from the Ministry of Magic last year?" 

Harry nodded, finding himself unable to speak. 

"I thought it was smashed." 

"The official record was, but Dumbledore was there to hear the prophecy when it was originally cast," Harry said, his voice suddenly becoming bitter. "He knew about it since before I was born, but he only bothered to tell me last year, after the fiasco at the Ministry. He kept it from me, even though the prophecy was about ME." 

Hermione let out a breath. "That's why you don't trust him anymore." 

"You don't trust Dumbledore?" Ron, who had long lost his anger, was now looking at Harry in confusion. "What did the prophecy say, Harry?" 

Harry looked back and forth between his two friends, not being able to help but smile. They had stuck by his side through five years of madness and death, helped him deal with the fame that he didn't really want. It didn't seem fair to unload another secret onto them. 

"Harry?" Hermione said softly. 

"It said..." Harry closed his eyes, clearly picturing the ghostly image of Trelawney spinning in Dumbeldore's pensieve, the cold and raspy voice reciting the words that he hated. "It said that I was the one with the power to destroy Voldemort, and he would mark me as his equal." Harry's fingers unconsciously reached up to trace his scar. "I'm supposed to have some power that Voldemort doesn't know about..." Harry trailed off, unable to tell them the last, most horrifying part. 

"Is... that it?" Ron's voice was scarcely above a whisper. 

Harry shook his head. When he spoke, his voice could barely be heard. "_And either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives._" 

The three of them were silent for nearly a full minute before Ron finally said, "What does that mean, Harry?" 

"It means I have to kill Voldemort." 

Ron bit his lip. "I think the entire wizarding world is already expecting that, Harry, even without knowing the prophecy." 

"And I'm tired of people EXPECTING me to be able to do everything," Harry said weakly. "I know everyone else was expecting me to, but do you realize what that means?" Ron shook his head. "It means **I have to kill**. I'm the secret weapon. Dumbledore has been 'protecting' me all these years because I have to live in order to kill Voldemort." 

"I... I don't understand what this has to do with you thinking you should have been in Slytherin," Ron said. 

"I need to be his equal. Voldemort... Tom Riddle. We're like each other, in every aspect, except he was in Slytherin, and I'm in Gryffindor." 

"Harry, you can't take the prophecy THAT literally," Hermione said. "You don't need to be Voldemort in order to defeat him." 

Harry winced, hearing Hermione echoing his own words to Harry James. "But Harry James is in Slytherin, and he has already carried out the prophecy in his world." Harry saw Ron opening his mouth to protest, and cut him off. "No, Ron. His life was like mine in every possible way until the sorting. Now he has a perfect life, and he killed Voldemort last year, when I was only just finding out about the prophecy." 

"You think... his life is better than yours?" Ron said in disbelief. "He's not... he's not friends with..." He cut himself off, rethinking his words. "Aside from Voldemort being dead, what has he done that makes his life so great?" 

Wincing, Harry swallowed, trying to force down the lump that was forming in his throat. "Sirius." 

Ron stiffened. "He's... alive?" he asked softly. 

"More than that," Harry said, leaning over and putting his head in his hands. "Harry James managed to catch Pettigrew the night I let him get away. Sirius has been proven innocent, and he and Draco Lucius live with Sirius and Remus." 

"It's just... different circumstances, Harry," Ron said. "Besides, just because Harry James knows the prophecy still doesn't convince me he's real. Maybe he's a spell designed to draw what you want from your mind or something..." 

Harry smiled wryly. "Then how do you explain Draco Lucius? Do you really think I **ever** considered falling in love with Draco Malfoy?" 

Ron's face twisted into pure disgust. "They're IN LOVE? I thought they were just friends!" 

Harry glanced at Hermione. "I didn't... tell him everything, Harry," she said, biting her lip. "Just the basics, with what you had been seeing in the mirror, and your memory loss." 

"The memory loss when you were... becoming Harry James?" Ron said, his mouth dropping open. "So... that night... you were kissing **Malfoy**?" Harry nodded. "I did notice that you two were on nicer terms today. I hope you're not getting ideas... ," Ron said, his grimace not disappearing. 

"No!" Harry exclaimed quickly, a blush rising to his cheeks. 

Ron was shaking his head. "I don't know whether that makes me believe that they're definitely real, since no one in their right mind would ever picture you and that ferret as a couple... or if the sheer idea of it is just too out there to possibly be true." 

"They're real, Ron," Hermione said. "I've talked to Draco Lucius. He's definitely a real person." 

"Fine, I'll take your word on it," Ron said, throwing his hands up in the air. "But how did Voldemort bring them here?" 

"We don't know exactly," Harry said. "But he somehow used Morgana's mirror. Hermione showed me an article about it, and then I saw the mirror in a vision." 

"Why didn't you say anything?!" Hermione burst. 

"I've had other things on my mind!" Harry shot back, his eyes narrowing. 

"Don't you two start fighting, now," Ron said. "Look, Harry. I know you've had quite a week, and I understand your reasons for not telling us everything." Harry smiled gratefully at his friend, and Ron continued. "But you have to realize that we're your friends. You don't have to keep secrets from us." 

"I know, Ron," Harry said. "But you have to realize that I can't always tell you everything. I need to keep some things to myself." 

"No matter what happens, we're still going to be your friends, Harry," Hermione said. 

"That said, isn't it time for lunch?" Ron said. Harry and Hermione laughed. 

"Leave it to Ron to know when to end a conversation," Hermione said, standing up. 

"I'm hungry!" Ron protested. 

"As you always are." 

Harry and Ron walked side by side from the Great Hall after dinner, smiles of both of their faces. 

"Do you want to play a game of exploding snap after we finish up our history of magic essays?" Ron was asking. 

Harry smiled, but it fell as he remembered his promise to meet Draco. "I can't." 

"Why not?" 

"I agreed to meet someone tonight." 

"Who?" 

Harry pursed his lips, not wanting to remind Ron of the fact that he was now on friendlier terms with Draco. "I'm sorry, Ron." 

Ron narrowed his eyes. "I thought you weren't going to keep secrets anymore." 

Harry sighed. "Sometimes you have to, Ron." 

Under his invisibility cloak, Harry watched from the ground as Draco instructed the Slytherin Quidditch team to fly one last lap around the pitch, then turn in for the night. The Slytherins followed suit, and slowly filtered off the pitch, leaving Draco alone. 

Harry watched as Draco dove down through the air at an incredible speed, pulling up at the last second into a loop. Harry raised an eyebrow at the sight of Draco maneuvering so easily - why was he never this good during their games? 

Draco finally slowed down from his breakneck speed, surveying the pitch as if looking for the snitch. Even from the ground, Harry could see disappointment on his face. Harry quickly shrugged off his cloak, emerging from the shadows. "Hey!" he shouted, waving Draco over. The blonde turned towards Harry, and down, pulling up slow enough so he could simply hop off of his broom and walk over to Harry. 

"You appeared out of nowhere, Potter. How do you do it?" 

Harry smirked. "That's my little secret. Maybe I'll tell you someday." 

Draco narrowed his eyes, but didn't push the subject. 

"How was practice?" 

"Miserable. I haven't slept in nearly eighty hours." 

Harry's eyebrows shot into his hair, staring at Draco in awe. "The longest I've ever stayed awake is a day and a half, and I couldn't function. How did you make it through the day?" 

"Pepper-up potion. Lots of it." Draco sat down on the field, falling onto his back. "I wouldn't really call it 'functioning,' though. I feel like I've been in a haze all day. I can barely form complete sentences." 

"Sounds like you're doing okay," Harry said, sitting down beside Draco. He studied Draco's face, noting that even though he appeared exhausted, he looked somewhat content. "Why haven't you slept?" 

Draco didn't answer, instead turning his gaze up to the quickly darkening sky. 

"It sounds like you haven't slept since the day our twins fell out of the sky." 

"That's exactly right." 

"It's related to that, right? Your not being able to sleep?" 

"Yes, but I don't want to talk about it, Potter. Not now. Maybe after I actually get some sleep. That way I won't say something I..." Draco cut himself with a loud yawn. 

"You won't say something you... what?" 

"Regret." 

Harry reluctantly accepted that. "So what did you want to talk to me about?" 

"You." 

"Again?" Harry sighed. "When do we get to talk about you?" 

Draco sat up, smirking at Harry. The sunset cast shadows on Draco's face, making him appear even more pale and drawn. "I was raised by Lucius Malfoy. Do you really want to know what my childhood was like?" 

"Yes." 

Draco grinned now, and Harry tried not to laugh at the picture the Slytherin was creating. With his out of control hair, the dark circles under his eyes, the quidditch robe, and the crazy grin, Draco resembled Doctor Frankenstein. "I will definitely tell you tomorrow, if you still want to know. Tonight I want to talk about you." 

"And you always get what you want." 

"Not as often as you think." 

Harry sighed again, leaning back on his elbows. "What do you want to know now?" 

Draco didn't miss a beat. "How do you see yourself?" 

Harry thought for a moment before answering. "Someone who has had a lot of luck. Both good luck and bad luck." Biting his bottom lip, he added, "Mostly bad." 

"What do you want?" 

Harry looked taken aback by that question, and he stared at Draco. "What I... want.... is to just be a normal kid. I... I want people to see that I **am** a normal kid. I'm not their **savior.**" Harry's voice was bitter as he turned his eyes away from Draco and towards the ground. 

"So... you want to be a normal wizard. What do you think 'normal' is?" 

Harry blinked. "I don't think I know how to answer that question." 

"I do," Draco said, his expression serious. "'Normal' is boring. 'Normal' is when someone lives and behaves exactly as they're expected to. You, Potter, are not a normal wizard." 

Harry raised an eyebrow, thinking that the lack of sleep was definitely affecting Draco's behavior. "Should I... take that as a compliment?" 

Draco ignored his question. "When I first met you, I expected you to be like me - after all, the Potter name was an important one even before the... accident." 

"Accident?" Harry said sharply. 

Again, Draco ignored him and continued, turning his eyes away from Harry. "You are an important person, and I **expected** you to act important. You should have known by then who the best families were, and to stick by them to better your reputation and your influence." Draco raised his eyes slightly to meet Harry's. "But you were raised as a muggle. You are one of the most important wizards of our time, and you didn't even know. You probably still don't know. You could use your name to get you places wizards our age can only dream of. But you never do." 

"Why would I want to?" 

"Think of the influence you could have if you just threw your weight around. Now that the Daily Prophet isn't ridiculing you on a daily basis anymore, you could walk into any wizard establishment, get exactly what you wanted, and not have to pay a dime." 

"But I have plenty of money," Harry said, thinking of the time when Lockhart had given him all of his books for nothing. "They should be giving their freebies to those who can't afford it." 

"It's good publicity for them to have someone of such high standing 'shop' at their business," Draco said. "That's just an example, anyway. My point is that you never put yourself above others. That's why I hated you. You were everything I was raised to believe was wrong." 

"You were raised to hate me? Then why did you want to be friends with me?" 

Draco narrowed his eyes. "I didn't know that's what you were like. Truthfully, I wanted to make friends with you to impress and piss off my father." 

Harry stared at Draco in confusion. "How do you make your father angry and proud at the same time?" 

"He would be impressed because I managed to get on the good side of Harry Potter, the savior of the wizarding world. He would be pissed off because I managed to get on the good side of Harry Potter, the one who defeated his Lord Voldemort." 

"I still don't understand what you're trying to say." 

Draco sighed. "I suppose that it's my lack of sleep talking, then. What I mean is you aren't the person I thought you were, then or now." 

"I'm not the person I thought I was, either," Harry said softly. 

"How's that?" 

"Never mind." Harry quickly changed the subject, not wanting to think of his fame or 'high standing.' "You think you'll do well in your next match? You're playing Ravenclaw next, right?" 

Draco noticed Harry's swift turn from their topic, but smirked. "We're going to kill them. Chang has put on some weight this year, and she's not nearly as quick as she was before." 

"Their chasers could use some work. Didn't Mark Trunper run into one of the hoops in their last match?" 

Draco threw his head back in laughter. "That was priceless." 

Their conversation quickly turned to Quidditch, covering everything from their school's teams to the world teams, and who they predicted would be playing for the Quidditch Cup the following summer. Harry found he was enjoying himself - the sleep-deprived Draco Malfoy seemed to be much easier to get along with than a well-rested one. As they talked, neither of them noticed the sun dropping down below the horizon and night falling over them. 

As Harry shifted his weight, folding his legs underneath him, he noticed a dark shape on the other side of the pitch by the goal posts. He gestured at Draco, pointing at the figure. 

"Madame Hooch!" Draco hissed quietly. "She always inspects the field after Slytherin practices to check for cheating spells!" 

"Is it past curfew?" Harry whispered back, standing up, but still crouched low to avoid the light coming from the school. 

"Definitely." 

Harry grabbed Draco's arm, pulling him back towards the shadows where he'd left his invisibility cloak. "Potter, what -" Draco managed to sputter before Harry quieted him by putting his hand over the Slytherin's mouth, pulling the cloak up to cover both of them. He forced both of them to kneel to the ground - the cloak wasn't quite big enough to cover two 16-year-old boys. Harry's quick reaction came just in time - Madame Hooch had turned and was now approaching their side of the pitch. She had lit her wand to see better - evidently she had heard them. 

The flying instructor came closer and closer to them, until she was only a few feet away from the two boys. She peered around with narrowed eyes. "Anyone here?" she called. 

Finally satisfied, Madame Hooch turned around and left the pitch. Harry waited until she was out of sight before letting out his breath. He suddenly realized he has his arm wrapped around Draco, and Draco's head was resting on his shoulder. "Now you know the secret, Malfoy," Harry said quietly. 

Draco did not respond. 

Harry looked closer at the boy in his arms. Draco was breathing slowly, and although his eyes were closed, a small smile played on his lips. 

Draco was definitely asleep. His body had apparently just given up after being awake for so long. Harry didn't have the heart to wake him up, so he gently moved Draco so he was lying on the soft grass beneath them. Even in his sleep, Draco refused to give up Harry's shoulder as his pillow, grabbing onto Harry's cloak. Not being able to move, Harry laid down beside him, still keeping the cloak covering both of them. 

Harry looked up at the stars that were just beginning to appear in the sky, listening to Draco's rhythmic breathing. He soon found himself nodding off, and was soon fast asleep, as well. 

For the first time in three days, Harry did not dream of Draco.   
  
_To be continued..._


	13. Part XIII: What the hell?

**Doppelganger   
Part XIII: What the hell?**

By Krystiana 

**Disclaimer**: Don't own. Don't sue. (aka HP and all other characters belong to JKR and whole bunch of other people, blah, blah, blah...) 

**Warnings**: A well-deserved 'R' rating. I mean it. THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN CUT FROM THE ORIGINAL. Sorry, but is fucking insane, so I wasn't taking any chances. If you want to read the unedited version, go to my livejournal ) or my website ). 

**Archive**: My site ), , Noire Sensus (if they should somehow get a hold of this), Schnoogle (eventually). Anywhere else, please e-mail me first. 

**Thanks**: To Emma Grant. She's been beta-ing this turd since the beginning, and I'm really happy she hasn't abandoned me yet. I know I'm taking forever, but my goal is to have it finished before I hit the one-year anniversary of starting this project... which is sometime around mid-October. THANK YOU, Emma, for sticking with me so long. 

**Notes**: duck Yup. Hi. I'm not dead yet. Sorry.   
I'm working a bunch of extra hours 'cuz I need moola, 'cuz my birthday is going to be EXPENSIVE this year. I've already spent over $200 dollars preparing ($192.50 for most of an exhaust system, $19.50 for e-check,). I've still got to get my plates renewed and my license renewed, which will be another $60. I hate money. BUT I'm also working on this... like twice as fast as I have been. Most of the story is written - just need to play connect the dots. The next couple chapters should be fairly quick in coming out. Have fun.

* * *

Draco opened his eyes to a slowly lightening sky. He blinked a few times, trying to remember why he was waking up outside. The last thing he could remember was talking with Potter, and Madame Hooch showed up. Harry had grabbed him, wrapping his arms around Draco. Draco remembered listening to Harry's heartbeat, and thinking of how comfortable he was in Harry's arms... 

Draco was suddenly aware of a very close, very **warm** presence next to him. He moved his head and spotted Harry, asleep. 

Merely a week ago, Draco would have recoiled in disgust at the thought of waking up next to Harry Potter. Today, however, he just smiled, watching Harry sleep. He looked like a child - his cheeks pink, his hair in disarray, and his glasses askew on his face. Without knowing why, Draco found himself being unable to resist reaching out to touch Harry. When Draco's fingertips brushed Harry's cheek, green eyes fluttered open, blinking a few times before meeting Draco's stare. 

"You're awake," Harry said, his voice scratchy from sleep. 

"And you were asleep," Draco said quietly. "Good morning." 

"Morning?" Harry said in disbelief. His eyes flicked up to the sky, noting the sun peeking over the horizon. His gaze trailed back to Draco's eyes. "Glad to see you slept through the night." 

"I did, didn't I?" Draco rested his head back on Harry's arm. _I finally fell asleep, without having to deal with any waking visions of a certain naked boy..._ he thought. 

Harry smiled at the feeling of Draco's weight settling back on his arm. He felt more rested than he had in months - he hadn't had a single nightmare, or any wet dreams involving the boy next to him... 

Almost simultaneously, Draco and Harry realized the proximity of the other, and they sat up, jerking apart. Harry blushed, pushing his glasses up his nose, while Draco merely stared at him, his expression frozen. 

"Um..." Harry started, chewing on his lower lip. 

"What are you trying to do to me, Potter?" 

"Nothing!" Harry protested. "You fell asleep on top of **me**." 

"And... what? I looked so damned cute that you couldn't bear the thought of waking me up?" 

Harry's eyes flashed dangerously. "I didn't want to wake you because you'd been awake long enough to get seriously ill." 

"Oh, so you did it out of kindness?" Draco snapped. 

Harry opened his mouth to retort, but quickly closed it, a strange sadness coming over him. "Do we really have to go back to this?" he said quietly. "Blaming each other, yelling at each other?" 

Draco's eyes widened, but his expressions softened. "We're not... **friends**, Potter," Draco said, his voice lacking it's usual bite. 

Harry's expression crumbled. He looked away and back up towards the castle, but not before Draco caught his falling face. 

"Harry..." Draco's voice was quiet. 

Harry ignored him. "Did we miss classes?" 

Draco frowned, and quickly regained his composure. "No. We've got about an hour before breakfast even starts." 

Harry turned his head back towards Draco. "How do you know that?" 

"The position of the sun." Draco smirked. "It's a very useful survival skill, Potter. I thought that you would have learned that, of all people." 

Harry snorted. "My survival is dependent on knowing what time it is?" 

"You're the one that's always late to Potions." 

Harry rolled his eyes, standing up. He gathered his cloak in his arms, finally bringing it to Draco's attention. 

"An invisibility cloak?" Draco said, his eyes widening, wondering why he hadn't noticed it the night before. 

"It was a gift from my father," Harry said casually. He stretched, cracking his back. "You must have known I had it." 

"The mystery of your disembodied head floating around Hogsmeade is now solved," Draco commented, smirking. "You gave me nightmares for a good week after that, Potter." 

"Good for me, then." 

Draco stood, glowering. "For a third year, something like that is quite horrible." 

"You deserved it." 

"I.." Draco paused. "I suppose I did." He turned his back and began walking off the pitch towards the lake. 

Harry blinked, turning to see Draco walking away from him. "Where are you going?" 

"To take a shower. I definitely need it." 

"Well, you're definitely getting a bit rank, but you're not going to get very clean by bathing in the lake," Harry said. "The castle is the other way." 

"There's a passage by the lake that leads directly to the Slytherin dungeons." 

Harry raised his eyebrows. That passage was definitely not on the Marauder's map. "There is?!" he exclaimed, quickly catching up to Draco. "Since when?" 

"Since forever." Draco looked sideways at Harry. "Why do you sound so surprised?" 

"Just... a bit shocked that you told me about it," Harry said. 

Draco shoved his hands in his pockets, sniffing. "It's Slytherin territory, Potter. I don't expect to catch you down there." 

"I'm the one with the invisibility cloak, remember?" 

Draco glanced at the cloak in Harry's arms. "True. But before your bubble gets too big, it only leads to the hall where you can find the entrance to the common room. The Eight Room is down there, too." 

"What's the Eight Room?" 

"The room reserved for the Slytherin head boy. I believe our... counterparts are staying in there, for some reason. I wish I knew how they convinced Professor Snape to give it to them." 

Harry James woke up the feeling of someone blowing on his ear. Before opening his eyes, he savored the sensation of being next to the person he was chained to. 

Waking up next to Draco Lucius was something Harry James would never tire of. Their link would sometimes provide the feeling of being two people at once, and the moment in between being asleep and being awake was one of those times. 

He could feel Draco Lucius blowing on his ear again - harder, this time. Harry James smiled at his lover's impatience. 

"I know you're awake." 

Finally opening his eyes, Harry James looked at Draco Lucius, who was hovering over him with a smirk on his face. "Good morning, lovely," Harry James said. 

"Sleep well?" 

Harry James stretched his arms over his head. "Best sleep I've got since we arrived here." 

"Me, too," Draco Lucius said, lifting his hand to trace his lover's lips with his fingers. "We're up rather early. We've still got an hour or so before breakfast even starts." He lifted his eyebrow suggestively. 

Harry James grinned. "You're insatiable." 

Draco Lucius leaned down, his lips barely touching the skin on Harry's cheek. "If you're not in the mood..." He didn't finish his sentence, instead turning and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. 

Harry James sat up, moving so that he could wrap his arms around Draco Lucius, savoring the feeling of skin on skin. He buried his head into his lover's shoulder. "I might be in the mood..." He moved his head slightly so he could place a kiss on Draco Lucius's neck. 

Draco Lucius grinned, turning to face Harry James. "Now who's insatiable?" 

Harry James tightened his embrace, kissing his lover's cheek and slowly moving over to meet the other boy's lips. Draco Lucius leaned into the kiss, probing forward with his tongue. Their tongues met, and Harry James pulled Draco Lucius back onto the bed with him, twisting so that they could face each other properly. Draco Lucius reached out to run his fingers through his lover's hair... but Harry James suddenly sat up, his eyes narrowed, and his gaze pointing towards the door. 

"What's wrong?" Draco Lucius asked, sitting up alongside him. 

"Someone is outside." 

"So?" 

Harry James ignored Draco Lucius, getting off the bed and quickly crossing the distance to the door, which he yanked open. 

"Hey!" Draco Lucius protested, pulling a sheet over top of him. Harry James was wearing pajama pants, but Draco Lucius always slept in the nude. 

"Don't worry, Draco," Harry James said, amusement creeping into his voice. "It's only Draco." 

Draco turned his head towards the suddenly open door of the Eight Room, his eyes widening. He'd been standing with his arms crossed, telling an invisible Harry his theory of the connection between thestrals, dementors, and Professor Snape. He immediately turned to face Harry James, who was leaning on the door frame, smirking. Draco managed to keep his face straight, resisting the urge to let his mouth fall open, or raise his eyebrows, or something to give away the thoughts running through his brain. 

The Harry Potter next to him was currently invisible, and staying silent, for some reason. The Harry Potter in front of him, however, was wearing nothing but silk green pants. They were hanging so low on his hips so that they looked as if they might fall off at any second. His hair was tousled, and his eyes almost seemed to glow. His chest was... 

Draco told his brain to shut up before it went any farther than that. Why the hell wasn't Harry James wearing a shirt? Didn't he realize how it could be affecting other people? 

"Harry..." Draco heard his own voice whine from inside the Eight Room. Draco Lucius appeared next to Harry James, wrapping an arm around his lover's waist. Draco heard Harry's breath hitch next to him, and a strange sense of satisfaction rose inside of him, knowing that Harry was being affected the same way he was. 

Of course, Harry James had at least been wearing pants. Draco Lucius, however, was completely nude. 

Harry James also heard the small gasp that Harry had let out, and he imperceptibly glanced to Draco's left. He couldn't see Harry, of course, but he had a feeling that his double was definitely nearby. 

Draco was staring at Draco Lucius, unable to believe that he had simply walked to the open door without any clothes on. Draco Lucius noticed Draco's expression, and shrugged. "Don't look so shocked. It's not like you haven't seen it before." 

"Not from **this** perspective!" Draco protested. 

"Well, deal with it," Draco Lucius said crossly, pulling Harry James against him. "Harry, let's go back to bed." He placed a hand on his lover's stomach, trailing light touches up his chest. He placed a small kiss on Harry James's ear, smiling as his lover gave a small shiver. Draco tried not to stare at Harry James, his eyes widening at the reactions Harry James was having to Draco Lucius. 

Harry James smiled, reveling in the sensation of Draco Lucius gently touching him. "If you insist, love." He turned around to re-enter the Eight Room, but not before tossing a smirk over his shoulder at Draco. 

The door shut, and Draco stared at it, fighting his body so he wouldn't blush. 

"I... I have to go," he heard Harry's voice say. "I'll see you later." Harry's voice was already farther away, and the footsteps he heard quickly faded into the distance. 

Draco finally turned away from the door and headed farther down the hall to the Slytherin common room. He definitely needed a shower. 

"What was that all about, Harry?" 

Harry James grinned, rubbing his cheek up against Draco Lucius's. "I heard him talking to someone before I opened the door." 

"Maybe he was talking to himself." 

"Do **you** talk to yourself?" 

Draco Lucius was silent for a moment. "Okay, point made." 

On opposite ends on the castle, two young men stumbled into their showers. 

One of them immediately turned the shower on full blast, while the other tried to slow his breathing before finally reaching out to the nozzle. 

Both young men let the water hit their faces, letting it run down their bodies as they stared up at nothing. Their thoughts were focused on one image - a living double of their own selves, sidling up to a double of someone they thought they knew. 

One of these boys saw the image of a blonde-haired rival tracing patterns on a chest identical to his own. 

One of these boys saw a green-eyed youth smiling as he leaned into the touch of fingers impossible to tell apart from his own hand. 

They both pictured loving kisses, some they had actually been witnessed, and some that happened nowhere but in their imaginations. The kisses shifted from the lips to the neck, from the neck to the chest, from the chest and drifting down... 

_Lips colliding in furious passion as they moaned the name they had hated for so long..._

One boy came with a muffled shout, and the other let out a sharp gasp as he jerked forward one last time. The boy that had been facing the wall buried his head in the crook of his arm, breathing deeply. The other boy felt his knees give out, and he slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. Both let the water fall over them, washing the evidence of their activities down the drain. 

The two boys were both staring blankly, silently thanking that they were alone in the showers, their respective housemates still asleep. One thought was running through both of their minds, although only one of them said it out loud. 

"What the hell is happening to me?" 

"What do you have to look so satisfied about?" Draco Lucius asked, picking an orange off the top of the pile of fruit. 

"Nothing," Harry James replied, his smirk growing as he saw the doors to the hall open and Harry walking through them, alone. His eyes followed Harry as he made his way to the empty Gryffindor table. 

Harry took his seat, glancing over to the Slytherin table. He nodded to Draco Lucius and Harry James, the latter responding by grinning. Harry James pressed his fingers to his lips, and then, quite deliberately, held his hand out towards Harry and gently blew on it. 

His eyes widening, Harry blushed a deep shade of red. He quickly averted his eyes from his twin, suddenly becoming very interested in his empty plate. 

Draco Lucius paused in peeling in orange, raising an eyebrow at his lover. "Did you just blow yourself a kiss?" 

Harry James grinned even wider, leaning over Draco Lucius to grab an apple. On his way back down to his seat, he paused to give Draco Lucius a kiss on the cheek. Harry James let his lips linger a bit, moving his mouth up to his lover's ear. "He was wanking," he whispered just as Draco Lucius bit into a slice of orange. 

Draco Lucius snorted around the fruit, giving Harry James an amused glance. "You can tell just from looking at him?" 

"Of course," Harry James answered. "We're completely different people, but we've got the same core instincts." 

"You mean the same raging hormones? I doubt that." 

"No. I mean the way his ears are a bit pink, his eyes are brighter than normal, and his hair is still dripping from the shower because he didn't bother to completely dry off." Harry James leaned on his elbow, thoughtfully twisting the apple in his fingers with his other hand. "I know what I look like after I wank off, and that is definitely it." 

"You spend that much time studying your reflection after having yourself?" Draco Lucius let out a short laugh. "And you call me vain." 

Harry James ignored the quips, not taking his eyes off of Harry. "I wonder who he was thinking about." 

"First you blow yourself a kiss, and now you're fantasizing about jerking yourself off in the shower," Draco Lucius said, flicking a bit of orange peel at Harry James. "You are such a narc." 

Harry James finally tore his eyes away from Harry, smiling as he tossed the peel back at Draco Lucius. "Jealous?" he said in a teasing voice. 

"Who should I be jealous of - you or you?" 

Harry James blinked. "Now I'm confused. Which 'you' am I?" 

Draco Lucius grinned, popping the last orange slice into his mouth. His eyes moved to the doors when they opened again. Draco walked through and quickly surveyed the room, noticing the lone Gryffindor. He walked past the Slytherin table and sat down next to Harry, straddling the bench. 

Harry James raised an eyebrow. "You'd think he's obsessed." 

"I think he always has been," Draco Lucius commented. "The obsession is just showing itself differently than it used to." 

On the other end of the hall, Harry had paused with the fork halfway to his mouth when Draco sat beside him. "Um... hi?" Harry bit his tongue, not quite knowing what to say. 

"What are we, Potter?" 

Harry put his fork back down on the plate. "Are we still playing the question game?" 

"It's not polite to answer a question with a question." 

Harry snorted. "You're lecturing me on my manners?" 

"Are we friends?" 

Harry's eyes narrowed. "You told me when we woke up that we weren't." 

Draco covered a flinch by looking down at the bench. "Do you think we could be?" 

"I..." Harry shut his mouth, studying Draco's face. "I don't know, Malfoy." 

"Can you call me 'Draco?'" 

Harry didn't miss a beat. "Can you call me 'Harry?'" 

Draco finally lifted his eyes to meet Harry's, a faint smile on his lips. "I suppose." 

Harry lifted an eyebrow, opened his mouth, and shut it again. He picked up his fork again and began stirring the food around the plate. 

"Does that make us friends?" 

"What... the two of us on a first name basis?" Harry looked up. "I think it takes a bit more than that." 

"What would make us friends?" 

Despite himself, Harry couldn't resist a small grin spreading over his lips. "You don't ever give up." 

"No. What would make us friends?" 

Harry set his fork down once more, turning to face Draco by lifting one of his legs up to the bench. He looked carefully at Draco, whose hair was still damp from the shower, and surprisingly not slicked back. "Do you trust me?" 

Draco blinked. "Should I not trust you?" 

"It's not polite to answer a question with a question. Manners, Mal-" Harry cut himself off, and leaned forward on his knee. "Draco." A few fifth year Gryffindors finally entered the hall, taking their seats at the table. As they noticed Draco, the whispers between them began. 

Draco grinned. "Well, seeing as you're the savior, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't." 

"Should I trust **you**, then?" 

Draco's smile dropped, and his eyes fell to the table. "I'm not a Death Eater, Harry," he said, his voice only audible to the boy next to him. 

"Are you going to be one someday?" 

Draco lifted his gaze to again meet Harry's, and Harry stilled at the honest emotion he saw. "I don't know." 

"Do you... want to be one?" 

Draco continued staring at Harry, his eyes hardening suddenly. "I was raised to be one." 

"That doesn't answer my question. What do you want for your future, Draco?" 

"I don't..." Draco paused, glancing up and down the table. He leaned forward and whispered to Harry. "I can't really answer that, Harry." 

Harry didn't respond to Draco, but didn't back away from him, either. Draco stayed where he was, leaning close to Harry... 

A boy and a girl suddenly stood across the table from them. Harry looked up, his eyes widening when he recognized them. 

"What's **he** doing here, Harry?" 

Hermione stood next to Ron, studying Draco carefully. "Draco Lucius?" she asked hesitantly. 

Draco snorted. "You wish, mudblood." 

Harry narrowed his eyes. "Don't call her that, Malfoy." 

"Oh, so we're back to a last name basis, Potter?" Draco said, glancing at Harry casually. 

"What do you mean back?" Ron spat. "Since when haven't you been?" 

"Since about two minutes ago, until you two walked in and ruined it." 

Hermione glared at Draco, her fingers itching to reach for her wand. "We didn't ruin anything, Malfoy. You're the one that called me... that name." 

"A mudblood. It's what you are, Granger, whether you like it or not. You just happen to not like the terminology I choose." 

"No, I don't like it. And you could have a bit of courtesy to not use it, seeing as how it's **me** you're referring to." 

Draco's eyes narrowed at Hermione, and he smiled viciously. "Your opinion doesn't matter, mudblood." 

Before anyone else could react, a hand snaked out, grabbing the back of Draco's cloak. He was pulled out of his seat, coming face to face with Draco Lucius. 

"What's your problem?" Draco sneered at his twin. 

"You and I are going to talk." Not releasing his hold on Draco's cloak, Draco Lucius yanked on it, causing Draco to stumble. 

"Let go!" 

"No," Draco Lucius said, his tone biting. "Harry got a chance to talk one on one with his counter-self. I get to have time to share a piece of my mind with you." 

The Gryffindors watched with wide eyes as one Draco dragged another down the length of the table and out of the hall.   
  
_continued._ ------- 


	14. Part XIV: Double Talk

**Doppelganger   
Part XIV: Double Talk**

By Krystiana 

**Disclaimer**: Don't own. Don't sue. (aka HP and all other characters belong to JKR and whole bunch of other people, blah, blah, blah...) 

**Warnings**: Overall, it's R. This chapter is probably PG-13. 

**Archive**: My site ), my livejournal, ) , Noire Sensus (if they should somehow get a hold of this), Schnoogle (eventually). Anywhere else, please e-mail me first. 

**Thanks**: To Emma Grant, who managed to help me make my wish come true and get this chapter out on the specific day that I wanted. She's beta'd 14 chapters of this turd now, and she gives me really great comments. This story is BETTER because of her work. 

**Notes**: Hi. I've got a hangover, because I was legally 21 as of midnight. This would have been up earlier today if I had been able to drag myself out of bed. Forgive me, kay?   
This chapter is quite dialogue-heavy... however, the action starts soon. Like... next chapter. You'll see.   
**THIS MAY BE THE LAST CHAPTER I POST AT ** I'm sorry, folks, but is pissing me off too much. They keep screwing with the formatting of my stories. C'mon, , you can't show friggin ASTERISKS?   
Anyway, keep an eye on my livejournal, my website, and my yahoo group (all of which you can find the info on my bio page). If I decide to stop posting here, I'll announce it on my LJ.

* * *

Harry watched Draco Lucius drag Draco out of the Great Hall, a small grin forming on his face. Draco's expression was priceless. 

The door shut behind them, and Harry couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Draco Lucius was definitely a force to be reckoned with. 

_And he doesn't have a bad body, either,_ a snide voice in Harry's mind said. Blushing, Harry looked back down at his plate. 

Seeing Draco Lucius and Harry James together earlier that morning had made something click in Harry's mind - he **liked** Draco. Harry wouldn't really call it a crush, but he was definitely attracted to something in the Slytherin. What Harry couldn't figure out was **why** he liked Draco. Sure, the boy was easy on the eyes, but his personality was like nails on a chalkboard. 

Of course, the night before had shown that Draco was not an evil bastard all day, every day. He had actually been pleasant to be around. 

But Draco had just proven that even though it wasn't his full-time job, acting like a bastard was still his favorite form of entertainment. 

Harry closed his eyes, and saw a naked blonde boy smirking at him, leaning towards him... 

"Oh, god, " Harry said out loud, snapping his eyes open. Hermione raised a eyebrow at him as she took her seat. 

"What's wrong, Harry?" she asked. 

Harry barely glanced at her. "Nothing." 

Hermione's eyes widened. "You're blushing! What's going on, Harry?" 

"Yeah, and where were you last night?" Ron added as he sat next to Hermione. 

"I know where you were last night," someone said from behind Harry. He glanced over his shoulder to see Harry James looking at him with a knowing smile. "And I know where you were... and what you were doing this morning." 

Harry choked on his bacon. 

"What's he mean, Harry?" Ron asked, eyeing Harry James suspiciously. 

Harry James patted Harry on the shoulder. "I think you and I need to have a talk." 

"Haven't we had enough **talks**?" 

"This talk is an entirely different topic," Harry James said. 

"And what is this one concerning?" Harry said crossly, finally turning in his seat to glare at Harry James, who flashed a toothy grin. 

"_The Dragon._" 

Harry blinked, barely noticing Ron shoot a snide comment at Harry James - something about respecting the ears of people around him. 

Harry James rolled his eyes, leaned towards Harry, and whispered softly to him. "_You know who I'm talking about._" 

With a start, Harry realized that the words he heard were in Parseltongue, which explained why Ron was acting so bent out of shape. Harry nodded at Harry James, finding himself unable to speak either English or Parseltongue. 

"_What do you feel for him_?" Harry James was still keeping his voice down, so most of the Gryffindors could not hear him. 

Cautiously, Harry glanced up and down the table, and replied in an even quieter tone. _"Why are you asking?"_

"Harry!" Ron hissed. "Just because he's doing it doesn't mean you have to!" 

"Doing what, Weasel?" Harry James asked, his eyes burning. "Using a gift that you will never understand?" 

"It's not a gift!" Ron shot back. 

"Then what is it?" Harry James's voice was mocking and laced with malice. "The mark of a dark wizard?" 

"Stop it, both of you," Harry suddenly snapped, irritated by both boys' attitudes. "Ron, you don't like Harry James because he's a Slytherin. Come up with a better reason than that." 

"And Harry James," Hermione chimed in," you don't like Ron because the Ron in your world brushed you off after you were sorted into Slytherin." 

"How do you -" Harry James paused, thinking. "You've been talking to Draco." 

"WHAT?! You've been talking to Malfoy, Hermione?" Ron was staring at Hermione, open-mouthed. 

"Draco Lucius," Harry James said viciously. "What's your point?" 

"I would think that meeting Harry would prove that two dimensions would hold two different people," Hermione said, her eyes narrowing. "And Draco and Draco Lucius are even more different than you two. Isn't it kind of dumb to hold a six year old grudge against someone who isn't even the person who originally pissed you off?" 

Harry James opened his mouth, but quickly closed it. He stared across the table with a dumbfounded look. Harry snickered. 

Harry James had to the grace to smile. "May I just say one thing to Weasley?" 

Ron still looked a bit cross, but he nodded at Harry James. 

"Being a Parselmouth is just something you're born with. It's part of who I - who **we** are." Harry James tilted his head towards Harry. "Tonks was born a metamorphmagus. We were born Parselmouths. It's pointless to ignore an ability that can save your life." 

Harry's curiosity rose. "How did it save your life?" 

"Nagini. She's fond of Voldemort, but she's loyal to any who can speak the language." 

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I'll keep that in mind." 

Harry James nodded. "Good. Now then, let's go have our chat." He walked from the table. Harry hesitated a moment, but finally stood to follow. 

"Where are you taking me?" Draco demanded, struggling in the surprisingly strong grip. "Let me go!" 

Draco Lucius released Draco's cloak and spun on his heel, his mouth curled into a snarl. "I can't stand you," he hissed, the rage in his eyes sparkling dangerously. 

"Then stay away from me!" Draco said, rubbing the back of his neck. "How dare you drag me around the school like some common servant?!" 

"What, you deserve my respect because you're a Malfoy?" Draco Lucius spat the name with loathing. "I'm a Malfoy, too. You do not automatically get everyone's respect because of your last name. Respect is earned." 

"The same goes for you," Draco shot back. "Yanking me around by my neck does not give me a good impression of you. 

"And seeing someone who looks so much like me - " Draco Lucius cut himself off, turning away from Draco. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, attempting to calm himself. "How can you be so ignorant?" His voice was soft. 

"What am I so ignorant about?" 

"I've always liked to think that I overcame my father's influence all by myself," Draco Lucius said, ignoring Draco completely. "But then I look at you, and I realized I couldn't possibly have done it myself." 

"What are you talking about?" Draco demanded, putting a hand on his double's arm. "Answer me!" 

"Why do you hate mudbloods?" 

Draco wrinkled his nose. "What kind of stupid question is that?" 

"There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers." 

Feeling himself become more and more infuriated, Draco jerked Draco Lucius so that they were facing each other. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" 

"It's a Muggle expression." 

"And why are you using Muggle sayings?" 

"Because I grew up with a Muggle raised wizard," Draco Lucius said, sneering. "Don't avoid my question. Why do you hate mudbloods?" 

Draco studied Draco Lucius. for a moment before answering. "Muggles are inferior. Their blood is not like ours. They don't deserve to have our magic." 

"Their blood," Draco Lucius said coldly," is just as red as ours. It gets spilled the same way. We are just as human as they are." 

"They risk the exposure of our world to the Muggles!" Draco countered. 

"It hasn't happened yet." 

"But it will." 

"What makes you so sure?" Draco Lucius tilted his head back, studying his double with hooded eyes. "There have been Muggleborn witches and wizards since before Hogwarts was founded. The wizarding world has always taken advantage of this." 

Draco blinked. "Taken advantage of the mudbloods?" 

"The robes you are wearing - they are a Muggle's style of dress. It's a few centuries out of date in the Muggle world, but..." 

"What's your point?" Draco's tone was dry. 

"Wizards depend on Muggles. Many of our ideas come from their world, and we would never have these ideas if not for the mudbloods." 

Draco narrowed his eyes and sneered at Draco Lucius. "We don't need to keep mudbloods in our world for the sake of fashion." 

Draco Lucius let out a short laugh. "You really don't get it, do you?" He smirked at Draco, who was again getting angry. "What do you know of the Muggle world, as it is today?" 

"I..." Draco started, but shut his mouth. 

"You know nothing. Am I right?" 

Draco still refused to answer. 

"Muggles use a magic called 'science.' They've been studying it for centuries, but in the past hundred years they've made breakthroughs no one could imagine." 

"I've heard of science. And computers. I also know that most of their... inventions won't work in places of high concentration magic," Draco said. "Again, I ask... what's your point?" 

Draco Lucius reached out and grabbed Draco's sleeve. "We're going to the library." He once again began dragging Draco down the hall. 

Harry James was practically skipping down the halls. He kept shooting sideways glances at Harry, who shifted uncomfortably under his double's gaze. 

"What are you so happy about?" Harry finally asked as they turned down the stairs to the outside. 

"Did you have a good shower this morning?" 

Harry stopped walking and stared Harry James, a faint blush rising in his cheeks. "I.. I... don't..." 

Harry James was turned and grinned at Harry. "You were getting yourself off barely ten minutes before you came into the hall." 

Harry's mouth dropped open. "How... how do you know?" His voice was barely above a whisper. 

The smile on Harry James's face grew wider. "Because you were wearing the face I wear after I do the same thing." 

Harry blinked. "That's really... creepy." 

"Isn't it, though?" Harry James turned and continued down the stairs, Harry reluctantly following. 

They finally reached the outdoors, and Harry took a deep breath of the fresh air. He hadn't realized how parched being inside had made him feel. 

"So who were you thinking about?" 

Harry stopped walking again, but didn't even open his mouth to give an answer. He merely stared, his blush growing darker. He finally dropped his eyes and muttered, "I'm sorry." 

Harry James lost his smile and looked genuinely confused. "Why?" 

"I was..." Harry trailed off, biting his lower lip. "Well, I was thinking about Draco." 

Harry James tilted his head to the side, a thoughtful expression forming. "Which one?" 

"Honestly, I'm not sure." Harry James didn't respond, so Harry continued. "Well... when I..." Harry found he couldn't possibly explain when he was facing Harry James, so he turned, avoiding eye contact with his twin. He cleared his throat, and continued. "What started it off was seeing Draco Lucius... um... this morning." 

"You were there, weren't you?" Harry James said, smirking somewhat triumphantly. "You were under the invisibility cloak. I knew it." 

Harry coughed. "Um... yeah. I'm sorry." 

"For what? Fantasizing about the love of my life?" Harry James snorted. "Do you know how many people think about Draco when they're fucking themselves?" 

Harry peered at Harry James out of the corner of his eye. "Which one?" he croaked meekly. 

"Either." 

Harry sighed. "That's my problem, too. I'm not sure which one I was fantasizing about." 

Harry James studied Harry's profile. "Explain." 

"Well... I kept picturing... Draco and, well, me. Except I'm not sure if it was me and Draco or you and Draco Lucius, or weird mixes... and it's really freaky, you know that?" 

"Why is it freaky?" Harry James asked. 

"Because the lines are starting to blur a little bit too much for my tastes," Harry said, finally turning to face Harry James once more. "I never started having these feelings for Draco until... all these problems started." 

"'Problems?' You mean my falling out of the sky." 

"Yes." 

Harry James narrowed his eyes. "Is it really so much of a problem?" 

"Well, I certainly never had feelings for Draco before - at least not these feelings. I never even liked boys before. What if your being here is somehow affecting my mind?" 

Harry James looked skeptical. "You never liked boys? Is that really true?" 

Harry's flushed expression was slowly being taken over by anger. "Well, I never thought about them while wanking in the shower before!" 

Harry James tilted his head to the side, looking like he was expecting another explanation. 

"FINE," Harry said, grinding his teeth. "I once told Ron that I thought Seamus was cute." 

"Seamus Finnigan? Good taste." 

"Shut. Up." 

Harry James was smirking again. "I really haven't changed anything about you -" 

Harry cut him off, his anger suddenly overwhelming him. "But it's not just the 'Draco' thing that's the problem! It's the fact that your life is perfect when mine is such a mess, and it's all because you were sorted into Slytherin! I shouldn't have argued with the damn hat!" 

Faster than Harry could follow, Harry James closed the gap between the two of them, his eyes sparking in fury. "My life is not perfect. I've suffered, and Draco suffered even more simply because he was close to me," he said, baring his teeth. "And it's not just being in Slytherin that makes up who I am today. Your life is a series of events, and everything that happens to you makes up who you are in the present." 

"You've still got Sirius. You're living with Sirius. You freed him in your third year, when you were supposed to. When I was supposed to...." 

"The world doesn't revolve around Sirius!" Harry James snapped. "And it doesn't revolve around you, either!" 

"But it's not -" Harry cut himself off, turning away from Harry James. 

"It's 'not fair?'" Harry James said snidely. "Life's not fair. Deal with it. Just be proud of who you are, and always strive to be better." 

Harry closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "I just... I keep thinking that you're going to kill Voldemort, and my life will suddenly just be a waste." 

Harry James stared at Harry for a moment, his anger slowly fading. "As much as I'd like to go through that ordeal a second time, I think I'll pass. Honestly, I don't think I could, even if I wanted to. The prophecy here, in your 'dimension,' was about YOU and the Voldemort here. The connection is between you two, and you have to be the one to kill him." 

"Was it easy?" 

"That's a stupid question." Harry James felt a sudden wave of sympathy for his double, and put a comforting hand on his back. "It's not going to be easy. I can help you get to where you need to be, but you have to do the hard part yourself." Harry James offered a small smile. "Speaking of which... occulmency, tomorrow night." 

Harry groaned. 

Draco glared at the table in front of him. His hands traced the pattern in the wood, wondering exactly why he was waiting for Draco Lucius to return. 

Truthfully, he was a bit curious to hear what Draco Lucius had to say. Draco Lucius was a Slytherin and a Malfoy - what could have made him respect the Muggles? 

A large book was suddenly dropped onto the table in front of Draco, making him jerk back. He glared up at Draco Lucius, who was wearing an identical expression. 

"Turn the page to the beginning of chapter sixteen." 

Draco rolled his eyes, but opened the book. Chapter fourteen, fifteen... sixteen. His eyes trailed over the picture taking up the page. It was a cloud of fire, erupting from the ground, spiraling up into the air. It resembled a mushroom, but it was dark, and sent chills down Draco's spine. 

"What the hell is it?" Draco hissed, not taking his eyes off the photo. 

"That is the first atomic bomb." 

"I don't know what that means." Draco's teeth were clenched. 

"The Avada Kedavra curse kills one person at a time. It's supposed to be the most deadly, darkest curse among wizards," Draco Lucius said, looking down his nose at the image. "The atomic bomb killed thousands in one blow." Draco finally tore his gaze away from the book to stare up at Draco Lucius as he continued. "This explosion," Draco Lucius said, pointing to the book, "was just the test. The Muggles dropped the real thing less than a month later after that." 

"And why do you want mudbloods in our world again?" Draco snarled. "You want them to drop bombs on us?" 

"No. I'm showing you the power that the Muggles are capable of," Draco Lucius said, his voice still oddly calm. "They would destroy us if they ever decided to." 

"And that's why we need to stay hidden!" Draco snapped. "Keep the mudbloods out of our world, and we won't ever have that problem." 

"So you want to keep the wizards hidden from the Muggles," Draco Lucius began slowly, "because the Muggles would clearly destroy us? Is that right?" 

"Exactly." 

"I thought you said Muggles were inferior to us." 

"They are. Wizards would never do something so barbaric." 

Draco Lucius rolled his eyes, and finally took the seat across from Draco. "Muggles are our superiors. They are wiser than us, and they move forward much faster than we do. They have surpassed us in nearly everything. We can still do menial tasks, like cleaning a room or washing the dishes, faster than them, but that's about it." 

"What can they do that we can't, besides cause more death the necessary?" Draco said, his eyes trailing down to the picture of the fireball. 

"They have the ability to communicate with each other instantly, while we're still using owls and floo. They have an entire world of information with the push of a few buttons. That's the kind of information we need in order to keep up with the Muggles, and that's why we need the mudbloods." 

Draco studied Draco Lucius for a moment before replying. "You sound like you're afraid of the Muggles." 

"The Muggles should be feared - they deserve it," Draco Lucius said, leaning back in his seat. "But we can use their ideas to make the wizards stronger than we are now." 

"How so?" 

"Well, I don't mean to gloat," Draco Lucius said, smirking, "but I've been working on a handheld floo device, one that you don't have to stick your head in to talk." 

"A fireplace you could carry around?" Draco said cynically. 

"Exactly." 

Draco stared at Draco Lucius. "I don't see your point." 

Draco Lucius narrowed his eyes. "My point," he said, his voice icy, "is that the Muggles are smarter, stronger, and wiser than us. They have more power than we could ever hope for." 

"So I should let Granger go around thinking she's better than me." 

"That's the thing - Granger doesn't think she's better than you, at least not on a magical level. She's thinks you're a whiny, spoiled brat who think he knows more than he does." 

"And what about Harry? He was raised by Muggles -" 

"-that hate him because of what he is," Draco Lucius finished for Draco. "Those Muggles are stupid. Not all the Muggles are wise and powerful, but the same goes for wizards. Considering the Muggles outnumber the wizards by about 20 to 1, I'd say they've got more smarts than us." 

Draco Lucius tilted his head to the side, smirking. "Speaking of Harry..." 

Draco glared. "What about him?" 

"What do you feel for him?" 

"What?!" Draco's eyes widened. "What do you mean?" 

"You like him, don't you?" The corner of Draco Lucius's lip was twitching. 

Draco stood up and leaned over the table. "You are the one who is in love with Harry. I'm not. Stop trying to convince me that I'm something I'm not." He paused, sneering. "I'm never going to love Harry Potter. I'm always going to hate mudbloods." 

Draco Lucius shook his head, crossing his arms. "I'm not trying to convince you that you're me. I'm trying to convince you that you're not your father." 

"Don't talk about my father," Draco snapped. "Your own father is dead, and you can't even respect him." 

"And you don't know what you're talking about," Draco Lucius hissed. "I respected my father. I still do. He was the one who taught me to not be ashamed about what I believe. Just because I believe differently than he did does not mean I don't respect him." 

Draco opened his mouth to retort, but Draco Lucius stood up to face him before he could speak. 

"You are lying to yourself. However different we may be, we are still, at the core, the same person. I know what you're feeling," Draco Lucius said, leaning dangerously close to Draco. "You don't know anything about yourself. Until you figure that out, he's never going to love you." 

Draco Lucius turned on his heel and stalked out of the library. Draco didn't watch him leave - he only stared at the vacant spot at the table, suddenly feeling very cold. 

Harry let out a silent breath of relief that his classes were over for the day. He had a small break before dinner, so he was outside, enjoying the last few hours of sunlight. He laid down in the grass, taking in a deep breath of the fresh air. 

"Harry." 

Harry raised his head to see who had spoken. He spotted Draco standing a few feet away, and sat up. "Um... hi." 

Draco sniffed. "I just wanted to say thank you," he said quickly. 

Harry's face twisted in confusion. "For what?" 

"For... not waking me up last night. I probably would have collapsed if I hadn't slept." 

Harry smiled. "You practically did collapse." 

Draco sniffed, and replied in a haughty tone. "Malfoys don't collapse." 

Letting out a laugh, Harry stood up and turned in the direction of the Quidditch pitch. "Can I... ask you a favor, Draco?" 

"You can ask. I'm not guaranteeing I'll grant it." 

"Can you not call Hermione a 'mudblood?'" 

Since Harry's back was turned, he didn't see Draco's expression. All the anger he'd had building up during the day from his conversation with Draco Lucius was seeping out. "No, Potter. I won't stop being who I am." 

Harry turned, his eyes narrowing. "There's more to you than calling people names." 

"It's not just that. You want me to be a cutesy little Muggle-loving fool, like your friend Weasley," Draco hissed. "I will never respect the Muggles, or their half-breed children that they send to Hogwarts." 

"You don't know anything about Muggles!" 

"Draco Lucius told me about their barbaric ways of making war," Draco said, his upper lip curling in disgust. "And how they're supposedly so much 'stronger' than us. They don't deserve our respect, Harry. They deserve to bow down at our feet, and then die." 

Harry stared at Draco in disbelief. In all the years that Harry had argued and battled with Draco, he'd never heard so much venom in Draco's voice. 

"The Muggles that raised you are worse than animals. I know that they are supposedly the 'bad eggs' of Muggles, but that's all I've seen come from their world!" Draco was practically ranting now. "Muggles and mudbloods don't deserve to share this world with us. I'd sooner see myself dead than respect those apes." 

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Harry snapped. "I thought Draco Lucius would talk some sense into you, but you're worse than ever!" 

"Draco Lucius told me to figure who I was," Draco said. "I'm showing you that this is who I am. I am a pureblood - better than you, the half-blood savior." His eyes sparking in fury, Draco continued. "Better than Weasley, the stupid little blood traitor. Better than your mudblood friend, who will be the destruction of the wizarding world!" 

Harry found he couldn't reply to Draco. He knew that Draco was speaking the truth - this truly was the real Draco Malfoy. Draco was a bitter, prejudiced pureblood, with no respect for human beings. Harry finally looked up to meet Draco's eyes. 

"If that's who you want to be," Harry said, raising his chin slightly. "Be it. Just stay away from me." Harry turned and stalked back towards the castle, shoving his hands in his pockets to keep them from shaking. 

For the second time that day, Draco was left standing alone. This time, however, he was more than cold inside. 

He felt dead. 

_Continued_


End file.
